ANKARA: Turkey’s tourism sector, already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, has now been hit hard by tour cancelations due to unprecedented wildfires.
Amid an intense heatwave, the blazes continued to rage on Tuesday, the seventh consecutive day, with several parts of the country’s Mediterranean coast declared disaster zones.
About 95,000 hectares of Turkey’s forests have been burned so far, and hundreds of tourists have been evacuated from resorts near the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts.
Tourism industry representatives had high expectations for the peak periods of July and August, but they now consider it another lost season.
“The wildfires did not only hit Turkey. We’re witnessing similar fires across Italy, northern Russia and Greece,” Bulut Bagci, president of the World Tourism Forum Institute, told Arab News.
“From now on, there’s a need for preparedness among all tourism actors. A sustainable strategy that addresses the impacts of climate change in drought-hit Turkey should be devised to protect the current ecosystem, rather than building luxury resorts along the coasts.”
Bagci said several countries have already taken significant pre-emptive measures against wildfires.
“The US Senate has been working on wildfires for the last two years. They announced a list of measures, including the expansion of the firefighting fleet and training of the technical team,” he added.
“They’re even cooling the soil in the regions warmed by temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.”
Ahmet Derin, general manager of Crystal Green Bay Resort in Bodrum, told Arab News that he and his hotel staff “worked to stop the fires before they could reach a nearby village. Otherwise they could’ve encircled our hotel.”
He added: “We didn’t feel the need to evacuate the hotel guests. We didn’t have so many cancelations. However, we couldn’t get any new reservations.”
Derin said even if the fires are extinguished in a few days, there is a need for an effective communication strategy to convince tourists to renew their reservations.
“But I think we, as tourism operators, have already missed the chance for the high season of August,” he added.
According to the European Forest Fire Information Service, Turkey has witnessed three times more fires than usual this year.
Goksel Gungor, co-founder of YTM Tourism Villa Aparts in Fethiye — another Mediterranean resort town hit by wildfires — said there is a need to restore the confidence of tourists in Turkey.
“Our green Mediterranean region now looks completely black,” he told Arab News. “With buckets and water bottles in our bags, we’re currently waiting at the forests until the morning to help contain the fires raging around the area.”
Gungor evacuated three villas where Turkish and Ukrainian tourists were staying. “I can’t take any risks before the fires are extinguished completely,” he said.
“I even evacuated from the forest several animals. I can’t forget the half-burnt dog who hugged my neck out of fear.”
Following Ankara’s request for firefighting planes, one from Croatia and two from Spain have joined foreign teams in Turkey.
Bulent Bulbuloglu, head of the South Aegean Hoteliers Association, said 10 percent of holidaymakers have canceled their reservations in Bodrum and Marmaris so far, while others have left resorts early.
