60 percent of the citizens cannot pay the vacation expenses of a week.

During the Festival of Sacrifice, which is the second religious festival this year and lasted for 4 days, June 26 and 27 were declared holidays by the government, so the festival was 9 days in total, including weekend holidays. of week.

However, despite the fact that the holiday lasted 9 days, the citizen’s budget was not enough to increase prices in tourist companies. In recent years, the high cost of the exchange rate and long-standing high inflation in the country have made it difficult for many citizens to take vacations.

60 percent of Turks do not have enough money for vacations

While 60 percent of citizens in Turkey said they could not afford to take a week’s vacation, most of those who left the city on vacation said they went to their hometown to visit family or friends.

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute of Turkey (TUIK) Survey of Income and Living Conditions, 59.6% of households stated that they could not afford a week’s vacation away from home in 2022.

In 2021, when the currency crisis hit, the rate of those who claimed they could not afford a week’s vacation had risen to 60.8 percent. This rate was 59.3 percent in 2020, 58.7 percent in 2019, and 58.3 percent in 2018.

In other words, while only 40 percent of citizens in Turkey have the opportunity to take a week’s vacation, when we look at tourism data, it is seen that those who go on vacation usually visit family and friends. The main reason for this was that facilities such as hotels, hostels, and tents were extremely expensive.

TRAVELERS STAY IN FAMILY HOUSES

According to TURKSTAT Domestic Domestic Tourism data, 67.7 percent of those who traveled last year stayed with family or friends. While 17.7 percent of travelers stayed in their own home, the rate for those staying at the hotel was 8.1 and the rate for those staying at the hostel was 1 percent.

While a total of 55 million people traveled last year, 59.4 percent of these trips were to visit relatives. The rate of those who travel for holidays and tourism was only 31.1 percent.

THE CHEAPEST HOLIDAYS STARTS FROM 35 THOUSAND TL

The most important factor in the inability of citizens to go on vacation was the cost of the vacation.

According to SÖZCÜ’s Gamze Bal news, while the average cost of a week’s vacation for two people started from 15-20 thousand TL last year, this year the cost of accommodation for two people for just one week increased to 35 thousand TL. TL. If you add food and transportation to this, a week-long vacation for two people amounts to 45-50,000 TL.

According to information provided by tourism professional Bülent Bülbüloğlu, hotel prices have risen a minimum of 80 to 100 percent this summer compared to last year.

Stating that it is difficult to find an average price of less than 2 thousand lira per person per night for a vacation of 2 people in an all-inclusive concept in a 4-star hotel, Bülbüloğlu said: “Then it will be necessary to give at least 28 thousand lira only to hotel. This price exceeds 100 thousand lire, ”he said.