THE terrorist attack that
shook Istanbul on June
28 has had a dramatic
effect on short-term travel
to Turkey. Tour operators,
however, believe travellers
will not be deterred in the
long run.
Topdeck Travel has
cancelled all its Turkey trips
from now until October.
Steve Cooke, business
development manager, says
travellers have indicated
they will not be travelling to
Turkey.
“We are still operating
our Blue Lagoon sailing trip
because it doesn’t require
travel through Istanbul, but
any other trip that requires
travel through Turkey has
been rerouted.”
Celebrity Cruises has also
cancelled all its upcoming
calls to Istanbul.
The cruise line says after
reviewing all the available
information and after
discussions with its global
security team in Miami, it
decided to replace Istanbul
calls with Athens.
Clients currently in the
quoting stages are asking
for alternatives, says
Megan D’Arcy, kulula
holidays product manager
for Europe. She says the
operator has a number
of passengers booked to
Turkey for future dates in
2016 but these clients
have not yet decided to
cancel.
Erica Barrett, ceo of
Dreams, agrees that travel
to Turkey seems to have
been affected only for the
immediate future, and
that the operator is still
quoting for late August and
September.
Incidents such as these
will also raise questions
about where airport security
should begin, says John
Ridler, pr and media
manager for Thompsons
Holidays, and will likely
prompt travellers to hit the
ground running in an effort
to move airside as quickly
as possible.
These kinds of tragedies
show that there is a
growing challenge for
governments to keep
people safe in the landside
parts of the airport,
comments Tony Tyler, Iata
dg and ceo.
“Moving people airside
more quickly can help to
mitigate risk. The industry
has a number of initiatives
in place to achieve that aim
and we are working with
governments and airports
to implement them.”
Despite possible safety
concerns, travellers remain
strongly influenced by the
promise of a good deal.
Shortly after the attack in
Istanbul, Club Travel began
offering free tours of Turkey,
starting from November, in
support of the destination
and its national carrier.
Interested parties
were invited to take
advantage of free five-star
accommodation, transfers
and daily breakfast.
Md, Wally Gaynor,
says the response from
travellers has been
overwhelmingly positive.
“The post on Facebook
reached nearly 16 000
viewers. We have had
requests from as far away
as Australia asking if they
could join the tour.”
Looking at Turkey as a
hub, John says it is likely
people will initially avoid
connecting through the
country. “However, South
African travellers have
short memories and they
will soon forget about this
incident.”
June Crawford, ceo
of Barsa, believes that,
overall, this incident will not
have a negative effect on
Turkey as a hub, saying that
passengers still choose an
airline based on fare and
route schedule.
