The Russian tourist flow to Turkey in May decreased by 62.4% compared to May 2019. At the same time, arrivals from Germany and the UK have increased significantly. At the same time, the total foreign tourist flow has almost caught up with the pre-pandemic volumes, there is a redistribution of shares and places of key entry markets in the resorts of Turkey.
According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, 3,824,555 foreign tourists visited the country in May 2022. This is almost a pre-pandemic level: the May 2022 figure is only 5% less than the May 2019 figure (then it was 4,022,254).
TOP 3 LEADERS BY ARRIVALS TO TURKEY IN MAY 2022
As we wrote earlier, it would be incorrect for Turkey to compare the indicators of 2022 with 2020 and 2021 (after all, in May and most of June in those years, Turkey was closed to flights from the Russian Federation, the country's key entry market).
The leader in arrivals to Turkey in May 2022 is Germany (494,929 visits). This is 20.6% more than Germans came to Turkey in May 2019. The UK is in second place (395,056 visits, an increase of +27.6% compared to May 2019).
Russia in May 2022 is only in third place with 362,676 arrivals. This, in turn, is 62.4% less than in May 2019 (then 963,359 Russian tourists came to Turkey).
THE SHARE OF TOURISTS FROM RUSSIA IN TURKEY IS DECREASING, THE SHARE OF GERMANS AND ENGLISHMEN IS GROWING
Such multidirectional dynamics in the three key entry markets for Turkey has led to a redistribution of their shares in the inbound tourist flow.
Every eighth tourist in Turkey in May 2022 was from Germany (this, by the way, does not include Turks permanently residing there – Turkish statistics count them separately). The share of Germany in May 2022 increased to 12.94% of all foreigners who entered Turkey (in May 2019 it was 10.2%).
Every tenth tourist in Turkey was from the UK. The share of British tourists in the foreign tourist flow in May 2022 increased to 10.33% (in May 2019 it was at the level of 7.7%).
Only every tenth guest of Turkey in May 2022 was from Russia (9.48% of the total foreign tourist flow).
It has to be stated that the share of Russians in Turkish resorts decreased by 2.5 times compared to the pre–pandemic period - after all, in May 2019 it was at the level of 23.95%. Then not every tenth (as now), but every fourth tourist in Turkey was from the Russian Federation.
THERE IS A VERY HIGH DEMAND FOR TURKEY IN RUSSIA: THE DROP IN TOURIST TRAFFIC IS ONLY DUE TO A LACK OF FLIGHTS
The main reason for this state of affairs is not the decline in demand for Turkey in Russia (it is the highest and far exceeds the supply).
The problem is the lack of air transportation volumes (a consequence of Western sanctions against Russian civil aviation). Due to the lack of seats on flights, Turkey has become a shortage on the Russian market, and tours there are being sold out extremely actively even at current prices.
You can read about the current real prices for a quality family vacation in Turkey here.
JUNE WILL BE BETTER FOR RUSSIA
In June, as expected, the situation with the Russian tourist flow to Turkey should still be better than in May: the number of flights from Russian cities has increased, and the list of departure regions has expanded. It is still far from docklike volumes, but still the situation is being straightened out.
According to experts, taking into account the deployment of new flight programs, Russia may, by the end of June, if not regain its leadership, then push the UK and take second place after Germany in the list of key entry markets of Turkey.
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