Short and Long Term Recovery of Tourism as a Way Out of COVID-19 Crisis: The Case of Turkey

Abstract

This desk research based on literature and secondary data analysis discusses the short and long term recovery of tourism as a way out of COVID-19 crisis in Turkey. COVID-19 pandemic has an extraordinary damage to the travel and tourism industry. International tourism has seen extreme loss and the number of international arrivals fell 30 years behind (World Tourism Organization, International Tourism Highlights 2020, UNWTO, Madrid, 2020a). This is mainly due to the closure of the borders as well as restrictions on transportation and accommodation. Consecutive restrictions by countries have reduced international mobility. To revive the tourism industry, countries have implemented a series of strategies. Turkish tourism industry also encountered robust decline soon after COVID-19 pandemic, and the number of international arrivals as well as the revenues have fell behind 18 years. The tourism industry in the country is mostly dominated by international arrivals and the share of the tourism income in total export is high. Therefore, the revival of the industry must be an important concern for Turkey. Making a move towards new strategies, the chapter will discuss how tourism in Turkey can compensate the loss in tourism sector. The chapter covers the impact of COVID-19 in Turkish tourism and related sectors, tourism dependence and resilience of the country, short and long term recovery strategies.