Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, SAYD President Recep Yavuz pointed to research conducted by the GFK Group, a German market research company, which says close to 5 million Germans are expected to visit Turkey in 2010 and spend at least five nights in the country.Noting that these figures indicate a decrease in the number of German tourist coming to Turkey, he said one possible reason is the effects of the global financial crisis, which led many Germans to worry about losing their jobs and therefore to not plan vacations abroad.
He added that 85 percent of participants said the availability of all-inclusive packages was an important factor for them when choosing a hotel. Yavuz added that Turkish hotels offer some of the best all-inclusive services in the global tourism industry.
The SAYD president also highlighted that the research shows there are still some 20 million Germans who have not decided where to vacation this year. He drew attention to appealing last-minute reservations and said that German tourists, who in the past reserved their rooms up to six months in advance, now look into making reservations in the last six weeks before their vacation begins.
“In the ‘90s, only 1 million German tourists visited Turkey [per year]. In the 2000s this number rose to more than 3 million, and last year we hosted 4.5 million German tourists. We expect 5 million Germans in 2010,” Yavuz said, adding that 3.5 million of these visitors will head straight to Antalya.
