Turkey’s rise to prominence was confirmed this week as it overtook the Balearic islands for market share in May, official industry figures revealed.
The destination’s plethora of purpose-built all-inclusive hotels were said to be the reason behind Turkey’s rise, while other destinations were struggling for capacity in this sector.
GfK Ascent-MI figures for May show Turkey accounted for 16% of the market, two percentage points ahead of the Balearics – the first time Turkey has overtaken the Spanish islands.
Reports from Greece suggest small local hoteliers are furious because operators are insisting on all-inclusive properties.
Elaine Clark, content manager of Travel Weekly sister brand Gazetteers, said: “Hotels are struggling because operators are squeezing them out by going for larger properties like Iberostar.”
She said hotels were being forced to become all-inclusive, raising questions about standards.
Sarah Smalley, managing director of GfK Ascent-MI, said: “Turkey has hotels created specifically for this market. Spain and Greece do have all-inclusives, but are they playing catch-up in hotels not designed for it?”
With the trade forced to wait for the expected post-World Cup rush as England qualified for the knock-out stages, GfK’s figures revealed how bad May was following the ash cloud crisis.
Passenger numbers were 17% down on the same month last year, compared to 5% down in April. August was the only summer month in growth for departures, suggesting people were waiting to see how England fared, Smalley said.
The news was not all bad for Spain. Monarch announced it was adding three flights a week to Palma, Majorca, for this summer, claiming to have seen a shift
back to the country.