Marriott International announced 13 deal signings in Turkey comprising over 2,000 rooms.
25.08.2023 - 14:11 / skift.com
Turkey is grappling with one of the biggest challenges from the earthquake that flattened a swathe of its towns and cities: how to shelter hundreds of thousands of people left homeless in the middle of winter.
Banks of tents are being erected in stadiums and shattered city centres, and Mediterranean and Aegean beach resorts outside the quake zone that use the winter months to prepare for summer tourism are opening up hotel rooms for evacuees.
But with some 6,500 buildings collapsed and countless more buildings damaged, hundreds of thousands of people lack safe housing.
Syrian refugee Bahjat Selo, 62, and his family have camped near their cinderblock and corrugated metal home in Kahramanmaras since the quake caused dangerous cracks in its walls.
“It’s too dangerous to be inside. When we go in to get things, we go in like thieves.” he told Reuters.
“We spent four years in a camp – and this is harder. It’s so dark,” he said, his voice cracking and breaking into sobs.
The country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority has established meeting points for homeless people wanting to be evacuated from the quake zone. It calculates that more than 28,000 people have been brought out so far, with nearly 5,000 leaving by road and more than 23,000 by plane.
In the Aegean resort area of Marmaris, the owner of the Cettia Beach Hotel has opened up his hotel for earthquake survivors.
“My hotel is closed in winter and it was scheduled to be opened by April when the summer season starts. We were renovating the hotel but we will stop and open up the hotel next week,” said Bulent Bulbuloglu, the hotel owner.
Hotels all around Turkey have allocated some 10,000 rooms for survivors, the Turkish Hoteliers Federation told Reuters. Most of these rooms are in resorts such as Antalya, Alanya, Marmaris, Fethiye, Bodrum as well as İzmir and Cappadocia.
“Hotels in Antalya welcomed their first guests from the disaster zone by Wednesday morning,” said Ulkay Atmaca, head of industry body Professional Hotel Managers Association.
Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that government was doing all it could to provide temporary accommodation to earthquake survivors who wanted to be re-housed.
“In all over Turkey, 15,729 people have been accommodated in state guesthouses, student dormitories and hotels,” Cavusoglu told a news conference in Ankara. “In Antalya alone, 11,165 earthquake survivors are accommodated in hotels.”
But with thousands of people still buried under piles of rubble, many survivors appeared unwilling to leave the region despite the freezing weather.
“We have allocated rooms in our hotels but we see that many survivors do not want to come now, because they are still waiting for their family or
Marriott International announced 13 deal signings in Turkey comprising over 2,000 rooms.
Luxury hospitality juggernaut Aman is entering an unprecedented period of growth. After amassing 34 luxury hotels in 35 years, it now plans to open 11 hotels and resorts for its off-shoot brand Janu over the next four years, Skift has learned.
In the run-up to ITB China, DidaTravel shares impressive year-to-date China growth data, both inbound and outbound. § DidaTravel outperforms the market with remarkable +40% growth[1] in China outbound hotel bookings year-to-date vs. 2019’s pre-pandemic figures (and +292% growth comparing the same period 2022). § Meanwhile the company is registering +124% inbound growth in hotel bookings into China, year-to-date Vs. 2019. § DidaTravel will be exhibiting at ITB China, stand H23.
Shakey Graves burst onto the the music scene with his debut album ‘Roll The Bones’ in 2011, combining folk, rock and country music and a kick drum built out of a suicase. Now the muscian is partnering with Wild Turkey for their ‘ Trust Your Spirit ’ campaign and their ‘ 101 Bold Nights Musical Mentorship ’ competition where he will help mentor another rising muscial talent. I spoke with Shakey with about why he left acting for music, the best local drink you don’t know about and what it’s like owning a haunted guitar.
Oceania Cruises, known as one of the foremost cruise lines focusing on culinary excellence and destination experiences, has unveiled the inaugural season itineraries for their upcoming vessel, Allura, set to become part of the fleet in the summer of 2025. These 26 inaugural season journeys span over 92 destinations, ranging from seven to 34 days in duration, and will be available for booking starting on September 13, 2023. This luxurious new ship will feature standard staterooms with an impressive size of 291 square feet, surpassing the dimensions of many entry-level suites found on some ultra-luxury cruise lines.
In the second quarter of 2023, the Middle East’s hotel construction pipeline has seen significant growth, marking its highest project count since the first quarter of 2020, according to Lodging Econometric’s Middle East Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report.
TUI is expanding the season in Turkey. Turkey is one of the most popular holiday destinations for TUI guests from all markets. 1.9 million guests travelled to Turkey with TUI in 2022. The country is not only a sought-after destination in the summer season. TUI Deutschland customers can book holidays in Antalya all year round. The region on the Turkish Riviera is TUI’s fifth largest destination in the winter season. Now the offer is also being expanded for British guests: for the winter season 2023/24, capacities for Antalya will be increased by 30 per cent.
The cities in Europe with the largest pipelines at Q2 are led by London, with 82 projects/14,767 rooms, and Istanbul, with record project counts of 42 projects/7,222 rooms. Following are Lisbon, with 37 projects/4,262 rooms, Dublin, with 32 projects/6,173 rooms, then Dusseldorf, Germany with 31 projects/5,669 rooms.
This incident could potentially have implications for the travel and hospitality industry, particularly for businesses focusing on safety measures and risk management in luxury travel experiences.
Guy Hutchinson is President & CEO of Rotana, one of the leading hotel management companies in the region with hotels across the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Turkey. Hutchinson is responsible for developing and executing the strategic direction of Rotana and devising and implementing short- and long-term strategies to help the company realize its expansion plans. In addition, he provides executive oversight of all aspects of Rotana’s day-to-day operations.
As the undulating, soulful call to prayer drifts over from a mosque across the bay, guests in floaty silk beachwear lounge on cushioned sun beds by the glittering Aegean sea, sipping iced water and detox juices.
No, you weren’t just imagining your social media timelines full of all your friends posting from Istanbul and Turkey this summer. It happened to be true.