“German tourists get afraid”
Bentour Germany Manager Songül Göktaş-Rosati notes that after the earthquake and rising hotel prices in Turkey, German tourists were startled. “We experienced a period when the turnover increased but the number of customers decreased. Such a turnover increase may seem positive in the short term, but it is not healthy for a company." Rosati said.
“We could not break the image of 'affordable service' in Germany”
Songül Göktaş-Rosati stated that while she was expecting a slow January due to high inflation in Europe, real slowdown was experienced in February, March and April. "Turkey has been in mind as the country that offers the best value for money. If people pay more than 2 thousand euros this year for the hotel where they vacationed last year, it is a big shock for them. We could not break the image of Turkey that 'gives good service at an affordable price' in Germany. These prices are not very high for such excellent service we provide, but the market did not accept such price increase.” Rosati said.
Bentour's 2023 Türkiye targets
Noting that the numbers have turned positive in both daily and cumulative bookings at this point, Rosati underlined that Bentour's 2023 target for Türkiye is 180 thousand guests and a 150 million Euros turnover. Bentour Germany Manager said that they are now 25 percent more in revenue and 15 percent more in the number of guests compared to the previous year.
Songül Göktaş Rosati also gave details about German tourist's most preferred destinations in Turkey "The most popular destination in Turkey for German tourist is Mediterranean region with 80 . The Mediterranean, which ranked first with 80 percent, is followed by the Aegean with 15 percent and Istanbul with 2 percent. The remaining 3 percent prefer weekly tours and weekly yacht tours."
According to Rosati, average package price is 1.150 euros and Bentour customers prefer to stay in five star hotels.
