More Brits prefer Turkey for holiday

Brits increasingly prefer Turkey as a vacation destination over other European countries, a tourism sector expert has said. The global economic crisis has caused the pound to lose value against the euro, said Volkan Şimşek, chairman of Professional Hotel Executives, or POYD, and many British tourists prefer to spend their holidays in non-eurozone countries. Şimşek said that the British can pay for their expenses in Turkey in pounds. "Every year, more than 5 million people from the U.K. travel to Spain," he said. "But since the euro has gained value, some of those people have traveled to Turkey this summer." More can come: Turkey hosted 1.5 million British tourists last year, a number that can easily be increased to 3 million, according to Şimşek. "What the Britons value most is hygiene and security," he said. "Our hotels have been working to raise their standards in both categories. The U.K. is a great market for tourism, and we can get a bigger share of it." The chairman said British tourists used to prefer the Aegean region, but this year, they have been traveling to the Mediterranean region, too. "Our biggest markets are Germany and Russia, but the U.K. has the potential to be bigger than them," Şimşek said. "Turkey is more alluring now for British tourists. If the hotels offer contracts in pounds next season, it will create a boom in the number of British tourists, which will compensate for the loss in other markets."

Hurriyet october 2009