Sam Turner, Responsible for Sales and Sourcing of Hotelbeds Group.
Turkey rises in rankings from 11th to 9th most booked destination for the Group in EMEA region – with 40% increase in sales. The UK, German and Saudi Arabian markets are the three biggest sources of reservations made via the Group´s platform for the country. Istanbul and Antalya region are the most reserved destinations by the Group´s customers.
PALMA – Hotelbeds Group, the business-to-business provider of services to the travel industry globally, has announced a strong recovery in hotel bookings through the Hotelbeds Group platform – including the Hotelbeds brands, as well as the Tourico Holidays and GTA brands that recently joined the Group – for Turkey as a destination during the current fiscal year 17/18.
The Total Transaction Value (TTV) of reservations of Turkish hotel accommodation through the Group´s platform has increased by 40% since October 1st, whilst Turkey has improved its position in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa) within the Group from ranking 11th to ranking 9th as the most booked destination.
This marked recovery can also be noticed in both average prices and hotel occupancy rates, with the average rate per night staying stable at around 50 euros and total roomnights growing in line with TTV at around 40% too.
In particular this recovery has been led by a sharp return in the number of British travelers, who have become the single largest source of bookings via the Hotelbeds Group platform. The second biggest source market has now become Germany. In third place is Saudi Arabia, which has seen strong increase in bookings since the beginning of October.
This recovery in bookings for Turkey as a destination has led to the Group reviewing its portfolio of hotels and contracting additional properties in order to adjust to the evolving demand and offer its clients the best selection of hotels available, at the most competitive prices and under the best conditions – with plans to contract a further 400 hotels in the coming months, ready for the upcoming summer season.
Additionally, bookings made through the Hotelbeds Group platform have also revealed a preference for urban destinations, with Istanbul and the Antalya region as the most in-demand locations.
Sam Turner, Responsible for Sales and Sourcing of Hotelbeds Group commented: “Since the beginning of the new financial year on October 1st, we have noticed a clear recovery of Turkey as a destination for all of our Group’s businesses, including Tourico Holidays and GTA that have recently joined us. This increase of tourists has in large part come from the return of the British traveler to Turkey. We feel this is due to the general travelling public feeling that stability has once again returned to the country. However, other source markets such as Saudi Arabia and Iran have grown strongly, and whilst the numbers are much smaller we have nonetheless seen a doubling in the number of Spaniards reserving hotels for the destination.
“This has allowed us to increase not only the number of roomnights but also the total volume of sales for the destination by 40% compared to the same period last year. In fact, for us Turkey has risen from being the 11th to now the 9th most reserved destination for the EMEA region on our platform.
“As a global company with a presence in over 120 source markets and 185 destinations globally, we are well diversified and able to respond quickly to the evolving needs and desires of travelers around the world. Nonetheless this recovery in Turkey as a destination brings us great pleasure as we have a long history of partnering successfully with many leading hotels in this great country that has so much to offer travelers – and we look forward to forging further relationships with new hotel partners as we seek additional properties to respond to this growing demand.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
