Spotlight: Tourism boom in sight as EU offers Turks visa-free travel

The European Commission recommended visa-free travel for Turks across the Schengen zone, generating hope as well as concerns in Turkey.

For the tourism sector, the move will revive the battered industry on the middle and long run, once Turks are allowed freely into 26 European countries as of July as agreed upon after all the procedures are completed.

According to projections by tourism professionals, more and more Turkish people would travel abroad, creating new partnerships, generating investment possibilities and increasing exports.

The professionals predict the number of Turkish travelers to Europe this year would increase up to 50 percent to 15 million.

"The visa-free travel deal will encourage the creation of new business opportunities and appeal for more foreigners to visit Turkey for tourism and investment purposes," said Mustafa Alparslan, general director of Wyndham Grand Istanbul Kalamis Marina Hotel.

Visa-free travel is part of the deal reached in March between Turkey and the European Union with a view to stemming the flow of illegal migrants to the continent.

For Turks, the application for a Schengen visa has been a process of frightening tough bureaucratic procedures including a long list of supporting documents and a serious financial burden.

As a result, most Turks have either given up going abroad altogether or chosen other countries which allow visa-free travel for Turkish nationals.

"When we consider the deal in terms of its psychological connotation of traveling freely, it will definitely encourage many Turkish people, who have not yet been abroad, to use the opportunity," Alparslan said.

"We expect that each year more and more Turkish people would prefer to spend their vacation in European countries," said Cetin Gurcun, secretary general of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB).

In Alparslan's view, the opportunity will also change Turks' perspective about tourism.

"It is very probable that many Turkish citizens would start to consider tourism as a source of income, which in return would help their hometowns enter into tourism business," he said.

But, other professionals are concerned about the potential adverse impact of visa-free travel to the Schengen zone.

Turkey's tourism is being hurt by a combination of terrorism threats and a Russian ban on tourism packages imposed right after Ankara shot down a Russian warplane in November last year, with the number of foreign arrivals in March falling by almost 13 percent over the same period last year.

Tourist sites in Turkey are counting on local tourists to fill in the mostly vacant rooms, but the visa-free travel opportunity to Europe seems appealing and difficult to resist.

Tourism professionals expressed their optimism, however, on the grounds that Turks would prefer Turkey to Europe as they have already planned their summer vacations.

Gurcun said the visa deal will not change Turkish people's preferences for the upcoming summer season as "Turks have already planned their holidays with appealing promotions of the Turkish holiday resorts."

TURSAB has taken the lead in launching an "early reservation" campaign to attract more Turkish tourists to mostly vacant resorts by offering cheaper prices, among others.

In the view of Alparslan, as hotel rates throughout Europe have doubled this year due to increasing security concerns in Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, not many Turks would opt for holidays in EU countries in the short term.

Tourism agencies, in the meantime, have voiced their concern as well.

Free-visa travel to Europe would bring down the income and work load of the agencies by 50 percent, according to Kubra Ayvaz, a visa consultant with Adeka Tourism Agency.

"But we will continue to do our job as the United States, Canada, China and Russia request visas from Turkish citizens," said Ayvaz.

In her view, the agencies could make up for the losses by diversifying their services.

"For example the agencies may focus on sales of diverse tour packages to European countries," she said. Endit