Turkey is now the 6th most visited country in the world with 41 million tourists in 2014. To be able to accommodate more tourists in the country, new hotels are needed. An exclusive new report reveals that hotel construction in Turkey is at an all-time high with 74 projects and 12,968 new rooms in the pipeline.
Especially international hotel groups are getting involved in popular destinations such as Istanbul. Hilton, Starwood Hotels (with its Sheraton brand), Carlson Rezidor, Wyndham and Raffles rely on so called mix-used projects – including residences (serviced apartments), shopping malls and offices. In total 74 new top hotels are in the pipeline in Turkey. This data has been revealed by TOPHOTELPROJECTS, the worldwide leading provider of global b2b hotel data.
Selected hotel projects in Istanbul/Turkey
Radisson Blu Residence Istanbul Batisehir – 171 rooms – planned opening: spring 2016
Steigenberger Hotel Istanbul Airport – 210 rooms – planned opening: spring 2016
Mandarin Oriental Bosphorus, Istanbul – 130 rooms – planned opening: 2017
Hilton Istanbul Bakirkoy – 305 rooms – planned opening: early 2017
The growing number of new hotels in Istanbul – according to TOPHOTELPROJECTS currently 30 projects with a total of 5,400 rooms – is increasing the market pressure again. The existing 200,000 beds in hotels and private pensions are available for approximately 11.8 million travelers. The number of tourism is expected to grow further, but not for the holiday destinations Antalya on the Turkish Mediterranean coast. The number of foreign tourists decreased in this year’s first half to 12.3 percent, mainly because guests from Russia failed to materialize.
The Hotel Show 2015 commissioned the report on the back of a 70% increase in interest from Turkish manufacturers looking to exhibit at the 16th annual event this year, set to take place in Dubai between 28 – 30 September.
“The increase in representation of local Turkish manufacturers looking to showcase their products to hoteliers and target distributers in Dubai is interesting and could be encouraged by buoyant hotel construction in that country,” said Christine Davidson, Group Event Director of the dmg events hospitality portfolio including The Hotel Show.
The TOPHOTELPROJECTS report puts Turkey in 3rd place in the Middle East for hotel construction, behind only the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Caroline List, International Sales Manager at TOPHOTELPROJECTS commented: “Turkey has emerged as a leading tourist destination with a massive growth in hotel construction. Trends we have witnessed for the Turkish market include recreational complexes, which can also be used for day trips, as well as hotels with spa facilities. Hotel construction is rife in Istanbul, which currently hosts over 800 properties and 50,000 rooms, but there is a clear move towards the regional cities popular for manufacturing companies including Samsun, Eskisehir, Ankara, and Izmir.”
Engin Ertekin, The Hotel Show Dubai’s Turkish representative based in Istanbul said: “Dubai, UAE and the entire Middle East are always target markets for Turkish companies for all industries. There has been a continuous and significant increase in the last few years in part due to the general economic stagnation in Europe which is the number one region for Turkey’s foreign trade. This is pushing Turkish exporters to focus more on the Middle East and also to find new markets.”
The Hotel Show Dubai 2015 takes place 28-30th September at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Register to attend the event for free at: www.thehotelshow.com.
