“Biggest winner is Spain” say Turkey’s hotel association as Germans flock to the Costas

German tourists are expected to flock to Spain this year.

The ongoing political strife and terrorism threat in Turkey is driving away German holidaymakers in their droves, says TÜROB, the Hotels Association of Turkey, with Spain feeling the benefit…

According to TÜROB, bookings for holidays in Turkey by German tourists have fallen by 58% in the space of a year as holidaymakers opt instead for the safer shores of Spain.

While Turkey’s holiday resorts have not yet suffered from the type of direct terrorist attack as seen in Tunisia in 2015, the general security concern in the country is fraught, with a spate of attacks in Istanbul in the past 12 months, a failed coup last summer, and a government that appears to be edging increasingly toward dictatorship.

This climate has already put off British and Irish holidaymakers, who in 2016 helped swell Spain’s tourism sector to record numbers as they avoided Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt and – to a lesser extent – Greece.

And now the Turkish hoteliers are noticing that German bookings are down significantly too. From a 2014 peak of 3.9 million German holidaymakers, last year that figure dipped below 2.5 million, and the expectation is for the slide to continue in 2017.

“While German bookings for 2017 have been quite high in Spain, the Turkish and Egyptian markets have seen a recent sharp decline in demand,” said TÜROB President Timur Bayindir. “The biggest winner in this game is Spain.”

Bayindir added that Turkey expects a further fall in arrivals from other EU nations, including Austria, Belgium, France and Spain. “There may be an increase in tourism from the Middle East, Iran and Russia,” he revealed.

Germans have long had a love affair with Spain, particularly Majorca, over the past few decades. German holidaymakers tend to be among the biggest spenders, and also tend to book longer holidays than their European counterparts, making them good for Spain’s tourism business.