Go Turkey, but make sure you have a hotel to stay. Türkiye’s hospitality sector is facing a massive disruption, and many travelers will arrive in Turkey to find their booked and prepaid hotel closed.
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Türkiye’s hospitality sector is facing a massive disruption.
Turkish hotel operators were put on notice months ago, but ignored the warning. Turkish authorities waited until the beginning of the summer travel season to close more than 4000 hotels for operating without a license.
Visitors arriving in Turkey for a prepaid holiday may find that their booked hotel is closed upon arrival. Major booking platforms removed such hotels from their reservation systems just yesterday, but the damage is already done and ongoing
This comes even after the country’s Constitutional Court annulled the legal grounds for this enforcement.
The intensified inspections were launched in response to the deadly hotel fire in Kartalkaya, which claimed 78 lives earlier this year.
The tragedy prompted public outcry and compelled the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to expedite inspections, focusing on fire safety, licensing, and compliance across the hotel sector. The Ministry of Tourism and Culture found that thousands of hotels were only operating with a municipal license, but did not have the mandatory national tourism operating license.
Tourism industry leaders say the Season is lost!
Experts say this will have catastrophic consequences for the Turkish travel and tourism industry, with hotels either closing their doors or operating illegally. Due to a shortage of inspectors, federal authorities are unable to finish inspections promptly.
