Reservations 'pouring in' despite wildfires, says Turkish tourism minister

Turkey’s tourism is experiencing temporary cancellations amid wildfires, but travellers continue to make a steady stream of reservations, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said on Sunday.

Ersoy’s remarks arrive as Turkey continues to battle unprecedented wildfires that began on July 28 and have wreaked havoc on its tourism hotspots, particularly along its Mediterranean coast. 

“There are temporary cancellations during wildfires, but reservations continue pouring in,’’ Diken cited Turkey’s top tourism official as saying.

Eight people have lost their lives and over 35,000 have been evacuated in the southwestern province of Muğla, where major tourist resorts Marmaris and Bodrum are located since the blazes began.

The fires have destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of forest in Mediterranean and Aegean provinces, in what has become Turkey’s worst wildfire blazes in history.

Airports in the regions hit by the wildfires have registered a quick increase in arrivals, Ersoy said, expressing hope that the region would resume normalcy soon.  

Fires continue to burn in forest areas in Turkey’s Muğla, Aydın, Isparta, Karabük and Burdur provinces, with 13 wildfires yet to be taken under control, according to the Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Ministry.

Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Friday announced that the country’s annual target of attracting 25 million tourists and making $20 billion revenue remained unchanged, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.