Turkey sees 90% decline in Israeli tourism

The number of tourists lost to Turkey wouldn't even fill a decent sized football stadium in the UK. That's why a 90% drop of very little, is very little.

I am sure countries like Turkeys old enemy Greece would welcome Israeli tourists. There is no shortage of countries for Israelis to visit if they want to go abroad. Until Erdogan climbs down off his high horse and tries to patch things up with Israel then all that Israeli tourist money will continue to go elsewhere.

that German tourism business has been hit hard by the Haitian earthquake. The number of Haitian tourists has dropped dramatically. (Actually the drop was from very few to very very few). A fine example that, without even lying, you can easily distort the reality.

The media seem enchanted to proudly present numbers of a dramatic decraese in Israeli tourism to Turkey. What is conspicuously missing is information by proportion: Should Israeli contribution to Turkisch tourism drop, say, from 1% to 0.2%, it is dramatic in absolute numbers, but not in proportion. May I risk a wild guess and assume that such information would damage the average Israeli's conviction that his/her consumers' behaviour has a lot of significance abroad?

All people have now understood that nobody can trample on Israeli sovereignty without getting the appropriate response.From now on the relationship with Turkey shall be repaired on the basis of mutual interests.

Enraged by France's refusal after the 6 Day War to deliver prepaid Mirage fighter planes and missile boat I didn't return to visit until the late 1990s when France was more balanced about the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Israeli media seem enchanted by providing numbers of a dramatic decrease in Israeli tourists to Turkey. What is conspicuously missing is information about the percentage of Israeli tourism and if the "dramatic decrease" has any significant impact overall on the Turkish tourism branch. Is it a wild guess that such information would reveal how unimportant the Jewish contribution to the Turkish economy really is?

has filled the gap

that tourism from USA and south america is up 50 and 33% respectively during the same time period :)

The drop in tourists from Israel is only the tip of the iceberg. I'm in Canada and just among my immediate friends and friends of friends, there must be at least 20 families who have changed their travel plans (cruises) in order not to stop in Turkey. And they're not Israeli and not even close to being all Jewish. They're just not all that into supporting a country that supports fundamentalist Islamic groups a la IHH. Greece, here we come!

I'm sure that there are good Turks still around. That's not the point, Israelis have shown their backbone & not like the Jews of the Diaspora that never knew when the Goy was kissing them or hissing them !

With this belligerent and arrogant Erdogan regime in Turkey I don' feel a need to spend my holiday there. My money will end up in their coffers and may be spent later on Hamas and Jihad. I will find a more hospitable place. And I say it again: Turkey shall not be admitted to the EU.

The number of Israeli tourists coming to Turkey is only a very small percentage of the total number of tourists Turkey gets. Thanks to the removal of visas with many countries, and Turkey's improving image in the Middle East, the number of tourists has actually had a dramatic increase this year. The decline in Israeli tourists has been compensated many times by the increase in Middle Eastern tourists.

A simple math calculation: 69000 less Israelis went to Turkey for holiday at the same time over than ONE Million extra tourists travelled to Turkey fro the neighbouring countries. Please stay home and enjoy your polluted beaches in Israel, no body misses you here.

Guys, do what ever you want even if it costs 1 trillon dollar to Turkey, as a Turkish citizen I am ready to pay more taxes or work harder if we lose something economically. 1 Thing the jews must understand this country and the people in it, you cant buy or frighten with money... No need to say but, people who are not ready to die for what they belaive are not worth a penny, You can spend you 300 million dollars on greece whereever you want. We dont need your money just please dont come.

My parents used to go to Turkey and Israel every two years. I was always afraid to go there because we have Armenian relatives. I was sure I would end up in a Turkish jail, like in the "Midnight Express." Sorry, my image of Turkey has not changed; esp. under Erdogan, who seemed to promise so much and delivered so little in the way of reconciliation. I heard Turkey was beautiful; so is Greece. Don't know if I will ever see them (after all, it's about the people being friendly).

The debt ration is low, their population is young and although this may hurt them a bit, it really won;t that much, I am sure that there is an increase in tourist from the affluent in the middle east, which in the last decade has grown exponentially.

Total tourist numbers to Turkey have risen 13.65 per cent to July year on year. Israeli tourists account for less than 1 per cent of total numbers. Israelis have every right to stay away or indeed to boycott the countries or products of anyone with whom they disagree. But in the end Israel would be better off ending the occupation and repairing its increasingly damaged bridges around the world. Israel has so much to be proud of: why does it spend time defending those aspects which show her at its worst? At the moment Israel is in danger of acting on the world stage with the arrogance of China but with the power of Slovenia. It's in danger of looking ridiculous.

Israel, we all know you are a lunatic state, with twisted morals. You have a brutal military occupation on side and police on the other. How did you come to this mad conclusion? You treat the natives as foreigners while stealing and occupying their land with brutality. Leave aside your silly-ness for a minute and digest this (meaning your comments). The truth becomes filthy out your mouth. Reflect on your way of life. Sooner or later this will change, with or without your will. That is a Fact. You seem to have defied all laws and morals like no other. The reality is, you will never have peace.

If Israelis decide not to come Turkey, fine. Obviously the tourism will lose some money on this but on the large scale of Turkish tourism income, it is really minor, it may be more serious for some hotels where Israelis particularly liked to visit but these are minor.

well, now at least Israelis can travel somewhere you can at least purchase deodorant in the nation's capital (unlike Ankara).

Ana I suggest you get real,Israeli tourism to Turkey is worth well over 100 million dollars a year.No country can afford to throw away 100 million dollars.

I think its great that we are giving our tourist money to countries like Bulgaria who are great friends, and even Greece who are making attempts at friendship, instead of to a country whose government obviously hates us and does not value our friendship. I personally went to Bulgaria and it was just as good any way. Let Turkey make up the difference from Arab and Muslim tourists. I have no ill will toward Turkish tourism businesses, I hope they are very successful. I just don't want to give my hard earned money to their government in the form of taxes.

tourism in Turkey. Tourists come to Turkey from all over the world, Israeli tourists are a tiny percentage of the market and do not impact it, especially in a year when Istanbul is the European Capital of Culture. Stop giving yourselves so much importance because on a global scale you are tiny and you are not event that much noticed. Anyway there are a lot of Israelis travelling to Turkey, and businessmen never stoppted flying to Turkey. Just get real!

and do not allow them in their country until they give up racism.

70k a year is a lot, this effect is intensified when you take into account that the vast majority of them were staying in Ankara. There was a recent TV show on how lack of Israeli tourism effected the area and while hotels weren't damaged too much, the local markets where Israelis buy are nearly out of business. The local sellers who learned basic Hebrew over the past 20 years are showing their frustration on their government saying "the government's meddling in other people's affairs is hurting our business".

Erdogans increasing hostility towards Israel means Israelis stay away and so does their money and now Turkey is paying the price for their actions. There are lots of other nice and affordable holiday destinations where Israelis will be made welcome leave the turks looking like turkeys for blowing a good thing,

another cliche serves well here....biting the hand that feeds you.

anymore , we dont love. israel lost his friend . tourists could comes other city. to no come israeli isnot important

AND THEY DONT SUPPORT TERROR AND HATE AGAINST JEWS

And he bet on the wrong horse. Is he deranged? He worked hard to bolster his standing with Iran and the Islamist factions of Turkey. Good. Did he think that spewing the most venomous insults at Israel and her citizens was some kind of welcome mat for tourism? Hey, Erdogan--I go into my supermarkets here and see Turkish figs and just feel a wave of nausea as I pass them by. Congratulations--you got what you wanted. Maybe you can woo tourists from Somalia in a little while.

The hotels are full of Russian and Arab tourists in Turkey. So, even Israelis might want to visit Turkey, no room available. Try Greek islands from now on. Greeks are friendly people.

you are fooling yourself and trying to find out an excuse .. Turkey never had been such a country that risks foreigners lives..Do not think that the whole country is like the few people that you have seen as jihadist in TV ... If there had been some kind of life security why still there are millions of germans, british , greek , french , latin people are living in Turkey for years and they see Turkey as if their own homeland.. You are just foling yourself..In anyway , I love israel and I love israelies too much.. You are always more than welcome to my country but just try to be realistic. Do not believe the provocators words ... Come and see with your own eyes ....Turkish people is not your enemy .. we are very similar...

In the first 7 months, in comparison to the same period in the previous year: Israel - 79K (down 40%) Syria - 482K (up 113%) UAE - up 74% Lebanon - up 73% Iran - up 59% Qatar - up 49% Overall up 6.67% I don't think that Turkey is losing overall.

Turkey was the mostt popular foreign destination for Israeli travelers, accounting for about 13 percent of all departures and generating annual revenues of $300 million. so far 50,000 reservations have been canceled in popular Turkish hot-spots, making Cyprus and the Greek isles an easy alternative for Israeli holidaymakers. For Turkey's $660 billion economy, losing Israeli trade and tourism may be costly. It remained unclear whether defense orders would also be imperiled. Also at risk, , will be energy, agriculture and irrigation projects estimated at $20 billion. Turkey's Erdogan stands to lose and rightfully so he deserves it

I remember years ago when Israeli tourists in Turkey were instructed to not speak Hebrew, to hide their Israeli passports, to hide their Magen Davids because there was/is a growing antisemitic sentiment within the Turkish Muslim population. It is no different than any other Muslim country when it comes to safety of Jewish tourists. Add to this an increasingly radical Islamic political leaders and hostile Turkish government towards Israel, you can't blame Israelis who are afraid for their lives to visit Turkey. Cyprus and Greece is another cheap alternative to a great vacation for Israelis and there is less worry that some Ahmed might attack you because of anti-Israel feelings.

As a Turkish citizen I would fear for my life in Israel. Since they killed 9 of my citizens. Why not me too? I have a Turkish passport and i oppose the sick politics of the government. So i can understand Israelis feeling insecure in Turkey. And don't worry about Turkey. Each year we host millions of tourists from all over the world. Lack of a couple of thousand Israeli tourists won't harm the tourism in Turkey. Thanks for your concern anyway.

We are Canadian and my parents were in Turkey years ago and loved it. We really were considering it recently as we do one big trip a year. However, the flotilla incident led to much analysis in Canadian papers about Turkey and how it is changing. There was information on their relationships with totalitarian regimes like Iran where Canadians are upset about jailed Canadian/Iranians and womens' rights and about how so many journalists are being imprisoned in Turkey for insulting the regime and, of course, about the campaign against the Kurds. It is not just a human rights issue. It is a comfort issue. Turkey sounds like a bit of a scary place for people used to a free, western society to travel to. The conclusion in all the Canadian papers is that Turkey is definitely moving in the direction of an Islamist society.

Even though I am not turkish but I have close relation with thier culture. Money is not everything, hearts of Palastinians are more important to Turkey.

Some people have morals and integrity, while others value money over all things...I'm sure Turkey will be just fine. And to be honest, why would Turkey want tourists from a country responsible for executing 9 of their humanitarian aid workers. Some things are more trouble than their worth.

At its peak Israeli tourists made up 1% of Turkey's tourism. When compared to 4% from Iran for example, I am sure that Turkish tourist industry will have a large raise in Arabs and Muslims that until now have shunned Turkey because of its close relations with Israel. The real problem is the quality of service and prices in Israeli hotels. Most Israelis did not go to Turkey to soak up the culture and see the antiquities - they went because of the price. We need to improve our service and reduce our prices at home, so that the money from what should be domestic tourism, stays in Israel.

Id be embarrassed to show my face in a country that my fellow countrymen just murdered 9 people that were citizens of in cold blood as well. Id never show my face in Iraq out of shame.

After all openly anti-Semitic rhetoric, people are afraid of violence. No one feels comfortable anymore going on vacation with kids to such a country.

Israelis have always been welcome in Turkey. It is their loss because the holiday packages are so cheap. Their place is being taken by Russians and others . Turkey won't be lacking tourists but Israeli tourists are welcome, too. Not PM Netanyahu, nor Minister Leiberman.-, not Barak,

As my old economics professor used to say "There's no free lunch". Edrogan's administration decided that the best way to play populist demagogue was to bash Israel and cuddle up to regimes like Iran and Sudan, and violent extremist groups like HAMAS and Hizballah. When you hail and praise mass murderers and salute those who's ideology calls for the death of Jews, and who have been backing it up with suicide bombs and rockets then the people you're trying to lure as tourists to your country are going to think twice, if not more, before deciding if they want to spend their hard-earned dollars, euros, shekels, whatever, in your country. Based on the peak 2008 numbers and a rough vacation cost of about $2,000 per couple you're talking about a hit of anywhere from $100 million to $200 million annually.