Shrugging off early-season setbacks from regional tension, Antalya’s tourism sector has surged back to life with July’s momentum pushing August hotel occupancies past 90 percent across the Mediterranean hotspot, according to industry representatives.
They said the picture in August differs significantly from that seen in June and that prospects for September also appear favorable.
According to data from Antalya Airport and Gazipaşa Airport, nearly half a million tourists arrived in Antalya by air between Aug. 1 and Aug. 5.
Data from the Antalya Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism showed that on Aug. 1, a total of 103,200 foreign tourists entered the province. The figure marked the highest daily foreign visitor arrival recorded so far in 2026.
With the inclusion of the first five days of August, the total number of foreign visitors arriving in Antalya this year reached 8.75 million, down 7 percent from the same period last year.
Ercan Çek, vice chairman of the Professional Hotel Managers Association (POYD), said the 2026 tourism season began amid a series of crises and that global developments had also disrupted Turkish tourism.
“Despite that, there has been a good recovery process. Although the results remain below expectations, it is encouraging that 8.4 million tourists had visited Antalya by the end of July,” he said.
“Our main problems are costs and the euro exchange rate. We have no issue regarding visitor numbers or sales prices. The fact that we cannot control costs, combined with the euro remaining largely unchanged, has become perhaps the biggest challenge facing tourism operators in recent years, and especially this year,” Çek said.
Çek added that Antalya continues to benefit from its reputation for high-quality service and that many high-quality facilities are operating at occupancy levels above 90 percent in August.
“August is also performing very well. We do not yet know what September, October and November will bring,” he added.
“While we have been talking about crises, there have also been some opportunities. One of them is the Space Congress scheduled to take place in Belek [in Antalya] in October. It will make a significant contribution to the region, both in terms of prestige and visitor numbers,” he said.
İsmail Çağlar, operations manager of a five-star hotel in the Kundu tourism district, said the year had begun positively for the tourism industry but that the conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel had had a serious impact on demand.
“Tourism started the year very positively in January. Trade fairs also indicated that. However, a new war, the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war and economic problems in various countries inevitably created different effects in every market,” Çağlar said.
“Particularly in May and June, we suffered some losses. However, we have seen a very strong recovery in July and August, with occupancy rates reaching very high levels,” he added.
Noting that declines were recorded in some markets, including Russia and Europe, Çağlar said, “The figures are not at the levels we would like to see, but they are not very bad either. Turkish tourism operators have a unique characteristic: They always find a way to emerge from crises with minimal damage. I believe this year will be no different.”
“The peak season is going well. Hotels are currently full in August. The picture we saw in June was completely different from the one we are seeing in August. September also looks very promising,” Çağlar said.
