Political Unrest & its Impact on the Tourism Sector in Turkey

By: Yasemin K

Napoleon Bonaparte was once quoted as saying “if the earth was a single state, Istanbul would be its capital.” Istanbul, and Turkey as a nation in general has long been regarded as a vibrant and culturally rich nation, straddling two continents as well as being home to several ethnic groups and regions. This could be possibly why, in recent decades Istanbul has turned into a touristic melting pot welcoming millions of tourists yearly from all over the globe. With it’s vastly diverse offerings the historic nation attracts both leisure and business tourists for a multitude of purposes. In recent periods however, political turmoil has been inflicted due to actions by the ruling government causing an array of tense protests and political unrest. As tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets fly around several major cities invoking chaos, and criticism from international government’s escalate, one is left to ask: Do the Turkish government’s actions on harsh policies and human rights violations have a major negative impact on the tourism sector in Turkey? The Turkish government denies any impact on the tourism sector, as police action is restricted to small areas. However, due to the extensive media coverage and heavy criticism from foreign government’s this paper argues that the recent events in Turkey have had a negative impact on its tourism sector.
One of the biggest political scandals that have hit Turkey in the past year has been the banning of several social media websites such as Twitter and YouTube. The government had implemented a ban on these websites shortly after several personal recordings/phone calls of highly ranked government officials had been released to the public. An article published recently by Today’s Zaman, an opposition newspaper owned by the infamous Fetullah Gulen, (the prime minister’s ally turned foe) implies that these recent restrictions on freedom of speech have sparked outrage both domestically and internationally and will have a considerable impact on the tourism sector. The news article quotes the President of the Touristic Hotel’s and Investors Association (TUROB) as saying that “technology is an indispensable part of tourism and tourists and people who visit cities expect those places to be online”(Social Media Ban, 2014). He goes on to say that the social media ban by preventing the people’s right of access to information has put the country in a desperate situation and underlines the fact that certain countries (such as Italy) have already released warnings to citizens about the recent restrictions and to be cautious before traveling/planning their trips to Turkey. The president of TUROB goes on to stress that the banning of social media by the government has already “ignited a campaign in social media harming Turkey’s appeal as an attractive center for tourism”(Social Media Ban, 2014).
Additionally, regarding the recent Twitter Ban, the president of the Professional Hotel Manager’s Association Ali Kizildag states “when observed from abroad, a country where anti-democratic acts take place is not an attractive place for tourists”(Social Media Ban, 2014). He expresses that tourists are not captivated to visit countries that hold restrictions and bans, especially when regarding the European tourism sector who are much more sensitive on such restrictions. The country has taken a destructive turn, being compared to the likes of North Korea and Iran where tourism is scare if at all present and the government’s statements criticizing the EU and other westernized nations for voicing their concerns are also causing a stressed and agitated environment. While the article points out several negative aspects of the recent social media ban in Turkey, it is important to note that when regarding the Turkish Statistics Institutes (TURKSTAT) data provided, it exhibits that Turkey’s income on tourism surpassed $32 billion in the year 2013, however this figure may look to decrease in 2014. This factor may be due in part to the increasing number of middle-eastern tourists who are less sensitive on government restrictions. In 2012, Turkey saw approximately 3 million visitors from Arab countries and it has been found that Arab tourists spend nearly four times more when compared to that of tourists from Western countries. The Turkish Ministry of Culture state bookings from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are up by 75% with several major hotels continuously being fully booked, especially during the summer period of Ramadan. (Turkey Country Pulse, 2013)
This may lead many to argue that political turmoil and unrest may not actually have a significant long-term impact on the tourism sector. A 2008 study conducted by Meral Korzay and Maria Alverez, both professors of Tourism based in Turkey’s prestigious Bogazici University, argue that an individual’s (in this case a tourist’s) perception of a country politically may not effect their perception of the destination of that country when regarded as travel destination. The study, which was conducted on tourists from Spain, concludes that there in an indirect relationship between the political views and the perceptions of the destination (Turkey) when regarded for Touristic purposes. It is important to note however, that the findings also suggest that specific political issues do have a greater impact on comprehension and therefore more concrete evidence is required. Moreover, as this study was only conducted on Spanish citizens and their views on Turkey it relatively is safe to assumer that the recent events in May still hold significant negative impacts for certain countries that denounce or warn their citizens of traveling to Turkey, therefore tarnishing the tourism sector.
Besides the banning of social media, perhaps one of the most monumental headlines that have been circulating the international press lately has been the government’s inhuman handling of the Gezi Park protests. The demonstrations, which started out as a peaceful gathering in the famous park shortly turned into a violent warzone with a police crackdown in Istanbul’s most popular tourism district which houses several hotels such as the Intercontinental, Ritz Carlton and the Marmara to name a few as well as hundreds of restaurants. As thousands took to the streets in protest to save the last patch of greenery in the area, several tourists where also caught up in the chaos leading to a total of 6 deaths and more than 5000 people injured in total, invoking criticism and outrage from all over the globe.
The Turkish government’s handling of the Gezi Park protests lead to significant impact on the business and tourism sector and drew massive criticism from international media. An article from the BBC states that in the duration of the demonstrations the foreign ministries of six countries-Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, the US, and Japan all “warned their citizens to be mindful of the anti-government Gezi protests before visiting Turkey”(Turkey Launches PR, 2013). Hence, resulting in a tourism sector, which has been negatively affected as the numbers of travelers choosing Turkey as a holiday spot has greatly diminished in the past months following the protests. It can also be deduced that the Gezi protests have tarnished Turkey’s image in the tourism world as the Culture and Tourism Ministry has launched a recent PR campaign to boost it’s image following the political turmoil. The ministry has published a total of 1 million advertisements in magazines and promotional brochures free of charge on Turkey that will be distributed in Eastern European countries. Additionally, the ministry plans to launch additional PR promotions that will range across Middle Easter, Scandinavian, and Central European countries.
There are several statistics available that show that Turkey has had a sharp decline from inbound tourists following the political unrest. Nick Tattersall, the Reuters Bureau Chief in Turkey defined that after double-number growths in April and May 2013, arrivals of tourists rose at the slowest pace in June both during and on the aftermath of the protests, which took place in several major cities. The number of arrivals rose by only 4.93% in June 2013, which proved to be the lowest since November. Additionally, this slower growth in the month of June led Turkey to draw in only 4.07 million visitors according to the ministry of tourism. Although this unrest has since slightly eased and the number of foreign visitors rose 1.04% to 31.78 million people these figures indicate a damaging impact on “Turkeys already slowing economy”(Tattersall, 2013).
Turkey is bearing witness to serious challenges regarding its social and political stability within the international community, especially by the European Union who has reprimanded the government’s actions and defined them as human rights violations. An article written by the European Policy Centre claims that the Turkish economy has already felt the repercussions of the protests with the sharp fall of the Istanbul Stock exchange. If current tensions persist there may be an even sharper impact on tourism, which brings in approximately $20 billion annually (including foreign investment). As a consequence of the demonstrations many holiday bookings especially in the popular areas of Istanbul were cancelled. Additionally, the turmoil has sparked new issues involving Turkey-EU relations leading the EU to make various statements “strongly condemning the excessive use of force” (Paul & Seyrek, 2013) which is forecasted to lead to a decline in incoming EU tourism.
The most recent Q2 Turkey Tourism Report has stated that the year 2013 has seen several-large scale demonstrations against the Turkish Prime Minister and while the situation is currently stable, “any escalation in domestic tensions could deter both potential tourists and potential investors”(Turkey Tourism Report). Even though the incoming travel sector stands healthy, with arrivals increasing by 3.5% in 2013 and is dominated by Europe both inbound and outbound; over the longer term there is an expected deviation away from the West and more towards the Middle East in regards to inbound tourism. In addition to economic aspects this may, also be due to the growing concerns and vocal criticism of European leaders to the public, which include warnings of citizens to be cautious when traveling to Turkey.
As aforementioned, the steep drop in tourism primarily derives from tourists visiting Turkey from North America and Western European-regions, which used to make up the majority of the incoming tourism sector. Harsh concerns of the Turkish government began around 2011-2012, which directly correlates the decrease in certain EU countries as well as the United States of America. The decline in tourism influx was significantly noticed in Germany and Austria where the number of arrivals from Germany dropped by 6.5% in 2012 and number of incoming Austrians declined even more drastically at 23.5%. Inbound tourism from Belgium also showed a sharp fall with a 14% decline and a drop in 16% was recorded from incoming French tourists. Slightly lower numbers were present from incoming North America where tourism fell 6% for US travelers and a staggering 17% fall in incoming Canadian travelers. While the numbers of westernized tourists decrease rapidly to Turkey it is essentially to remember that there is also an increased influx of tourists from Arab countries, which are generally not as influenced by government restrictions and laws such as those of westernized nations.
It is not only the EU or westernized countries that have diverted from traveling to Turkey for holidays. In fact, one of the most significant decreases in tourism came from Israel due to remarks and practices the Turkish government implemented to offend Israeli citizens primarily regarding recordings recently released in relation to the Davos Incident. According to Hurriyet Daily News, Turkeys leading and primary English newspaper, there has been a “considerable decline in Israeli tourist bookings as the Jewish Passover holiday approaches”. (Hurriyet Daily News) In fact there has been a cancellation of nearly 10,000 Israeli tourists to the popular summer destination of Bodrum. Additionally, around 40 flights have been retracted from Israel to Turkey as Israelis have looked to other destinations such as Crete for holidays. In fact according to the Turkish Embassy’s Cultural Information Office only 80,000 Israelis have visited Turkey in the past year and although this number may not seem low, past year have shown numbers on average around 500,000 making it a significant increase. These declines are closely correlated from the strained relations between the two countries after the Turkish prime minister’s remarks. The last, but possibly one of the most controversial actions by the Turkish government in 2013 was to implement strict laws on the sale and distribution of alcohol. Turkey announced that they would ban alcohol advertising in all venues as well as stop convenience stores from selling alcoholic beverages from the hours of 6am to 10pm. Additionally any restaurants within close proximity to mosques and schools were banned from the sale of alcohol. Alcoholic beverage companies as well as the tourism industry voiced harsh opposition and protested to the government’s plans to ban not only alcohol at certain hours but also advertisements of alcohol, saying that these restrictions would largely impact tourism revenues. As the tourism industry is a major economic sector in Turkey and the country’s medium term goal for 2023 was to “draw 50 million foreign visitors and 50 billion in revenues” (Ozkok). However, for Turkey to achieve this task would mean that the number of tourists or the revenue per tourist must increase. This increase in revenue, as stated would be relatively impossible without selling alcohol or restricting leisure for tourists. Additionally, according to the Economist, hoteliers are frightful that the curbs will scare away potential tourists. Additionally, critics of the ban state that the bans will discourage international tourism and strengthen arguments of non-accession into the EU for being culturally different. With the combined concern of foreign governments and the domestic tourism industry, travelers are wary and frightful of a country with so many leisurely restrictions. With the abundance of concerning events that have taken part in Turkey over the past few years, it is no surprise that foreign government’s and foreign tourist’s alike are likely to think twice when arranging their travels to Turkey. There has been steady growing concerns and warnings issued by several countries and tensions are still growing high. Unfortunately the issues surrounding Turkey have escalated even more with the recent events such as the death of a 15 year old protestor killed by the police, the government’s failure to fix a coal mine resulting in hundreds of deaths, and the Prime Minister’s proclaimed “witch hunt” against it’s opposition, protests and turmoil are only forecasted to grow. Despite the fact that Turkish government official’s claim that the tourism industry is currently growing and the current political turmoil has not impacted inbound tourism, we can see that there are several reports and articles to contradict this statement. With escalating concerns by the westernized world, increased political tension domestically, as well as the country being negatively regarded by the media, we can conclude that the tourism sector has indeed been negatively impacted by the Turkish government’s actions.

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