Turkey’s hotel investments drop 42 percent in first quarter of 2016: Association

Turkey’s hotel investments drop 42 percent in first quarter of 2016: Association

ISTANBUL
Turkey’s hotel investments drop 42 percent in first quarter of 2016: Association Hotel investments in Turkey plunged by 42 percent in the first quarter of the year from the same period of 2015, according to the Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB). 

Subsidy documents worth 645.3 million Turkish Liras were obtained for the establishment of 53 new hotel projects in 27 cities, according to a TÜROB statement released on May 5.

“The tourism sector has been experiencing a difficult period. These problems negatively affected 54 sectors directly or indirectly. Sector players have delayed most of their long-term investment projects. We have also seen that many ongoing projects have slowed down. Such decelerating moves are quite normal, we believe,” said TÜROB President Timur Bayındır.

Bayındır noted that Istanbul and the Mediterranean resort province of Antalya continued to take the lions share in investments, adding that regional diversification in investments should be realized and new projects should be made in cities other than Istanbul and Antalya. 

In March, subsidy documents were taken for 25 new hotel projects in 17 cities as well as three hotel renovation projects, worth a total of 321.7 million liras. This figure was 46 percent lower than the amount posted last March, the TÜROB statement also said. 

With the completion of these investments, total hotel capacity is set to increase by 4,271 units.