Turkish tourism more popular than ever among Ukrainians

As Ukrainians’ incomes grow, so does their interest in traveling abroad, with Turkey emerging as a top tourist destination.

In 2007, more than 590,000 Ukrainians traveled to Turkey, a 22 percent increase from the prior year and 56 percent higher than 2005, according to Ahmet Canga, the attache for cultural and information affairs at the Turkish Embassy in Ukraine.

Ukraine boasts a handful of big companies offering services to Turkey, including Tourism International Services (founded in 2003), Adore Tour (1996), Karya Tour (2003), and Turtess Travel (2002), as well as many smaller firms, most of which are Turkish owned and operated.

“When we started our business in Ukraine, we organized about 20 flights to Antalya per week,” said Adore Tour director Ali Altunbas, referring to the attractive resort region on the country’s southern coast. “Nowadays, the number of flights is between 40 and 50 per week.”

Altunbas’ company served more than half of all Ukrainians visiting Turkey last year. Other Turkish tour operators include Teztour, Pegas Touristik, Pan Ukraine, Mugla Odessa Intertrade Ltd., Adriyatik, and Anex Tour.

More than 60,000 tourists travelled to Turkey in 2007 with Karya Tour, said Tatyana Shakulo, the company’s project manager.

“Every year, we increase our client volume by 40 percent,” she said. “And this is a common tendency for the Turkish destination on the Ukrainian market.”

Meanwhile, tours are limited, and operators are trying to find ways to accommodate the bigger interest, said Mila Vorontsova, the head of the marketing department of Turtess Travel.

Prices are increasing as the number of interested tourists grows, rising between 10 and 15 percent annually in recent years, market players said.

Turkey’s integration with the European Union has raised standards, making services more expensive, Shakulo said.

Turkey offers cheaper prices for high quality services, industry players said, making the country more attractive than European resorts and even Crimea, Altunbas said.

“The main reason why Ukrainians prefer Turkey to Crimea is that the class of services for tourists in Turkey is obviously higher,” he said.

“You can notice it in the hotels. They are more comfortable, convenient, and modern than Ukrainian ones. The sea is more pure and salty and much more healthy for the skin.”

Traditionally, Turkey attracts tourists interested in recreation, as well as the country’s rich historical and cultural heritage.

Business travelers, cultural tourists, and the beach crowd are the main types of Ukrainian tourists, said Kerim Hekim, the founder of Tourism International Services.

Most prefer resort regions such as Antalya, Bodrum, and Marmaris, and a certain percent of them come to Istanbul for shopping, he said.

Burgeoning Turkish tourism trends include business, health, ecotourism, faith, education, culture, sea, adventure, sport, and thermal and spa resorts, Canga said.

Tour operators even recently began offering winter tours with the possibility of skiing, Vorontsova said.

Meanwhile, Turkish hoteliers are building new alternative “theme” hotels with their own style, Shakulo said.

Turkey’s main tourism competitors, particularly for Ukrainian tourists, are primarily Egypt, but also Tunisia, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Montenegro.

To compete, Turkish tour firms offer more modern technologies and professionalism, rather than lowering prices, Vorontsova said.

“I don’t think Ukrainian tour operators propose lower or higher prices than Turkish tour operators do,” she said. “All are competitors and understand that dumping prices doesn’t offer the possibility to profit, and making prices higher leads to client loss.”

The main challenge for Turkish tour operators is “a lack of air companies and transport to support charter programs,” Shakulo said.

Ukrainian legislation only allows domestic airlines to provide flights to Turkey, Altunbas said.

Meanwhile, airports are poorly developed, even in Ukraine’s largest cities, Shakulo said.

The psychology and behavior of Ukrainian clients presents a particular challenge to tour operators, Hekim said.

“The Ukrainian tradition is to try to get the best service by not spending money,” he said.

For example, Ukrainians will pay for a cheap three-star hotel and expect five-star service, even quarreling with the tourist agent if they come back disappointed, Hekim said.

Nevertheless, Turkish businessmen are optimistic on further business development in Ukraine.

“The Turkish government lately placed attention on cultural and historical tourism and tried to share it with its close neighbor, Ukraine,” he said.

“Turkey is a land with different cultures that developed for a long time and left after themselves a rich history. That’s why we see a bright future for this trend of tourism.”