Israelis not returning to Turkey

The lifting of the travel warning on Turkey by the National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau will make little difference.

The lifting of the travel warning to Turkey by the National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau will not cause Israelis to vacation in Turkey, just as the declaration of the travel warning was the reason Israelis stopped going there.

The number of Israelis vacationing in Turkey had been plummeting for months before the Gaza flotilla incident in late May and the subsequent travel warning. The reason was simple: despite low prices and package deals, Israelis sensed hostility on the part of the Turks.

There were stories about comments made by traders in Antalya's bazaar or attitudes of hotel staff. The boarding of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, and the chilly, not to say hostile, attitude displayed by the Turkish government toward Israel, intensified the Israelis' feelings.

In addition, there have been incidents such as the hacking of Israeli websites by Turkish hackers and the theft of passwords and credit card numbers. The path to a complete halt in Israeli tourism to Turkey was a short one.

So while the cancellation of the travel warning prompted Israeli tourist wholesalers to go to Turkey, as they had previously invested money in commitments to Turkish tourism vendors for the summer season, and there has been an unceasing torrent of declarations about people wanting to vacation in Turkey, the reality is rather different. In practice, the 2-3 weekly flights to Antalya are only test flights.

The Israeli tourism wholesalers, off the record, admit that the destination will be dead for the coming months, and only a major change in Turkey's attitude toward Israel can revive it.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 22, 2010

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010

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