Hotel demand in Istanbul for the first two weeks of June fell about 15% from a year earlier, according to STR Global, as Turkey’s largest city was the site of anti-government protests and clashes with authorities.
Hotel business has progressively slid lower, with room demand down about 18% for the week ended June 13, according to STR Global. Overall, Istanbul’s occupancy for the first half of the month fell 19% from a year earlier.
Major hotel companies haven’t reported any damages or closures from the incidents.
“Disorder in Turkey has been confined to a very small area within Istanbul,” said Rolf Hubner, vice president of operations for InterContinental Hotels Group’s Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and CIS regions. Hilton Worldwide also reported normal operations at its Istanbul hotels. The two companies have about 20 hotels in the city combined.
Still, the fluid nature of the clashes may put a damper on summer travel demand, according to Elizabeth Winkle, managing director at STR Global.
“If this is resolved quickly and appropriately, I would not expect the summer travel numbers to be heavily impacted or even at all,” said Winkle. “However, if the situation continues and/or escalates, then I would expect to see displacement as we did in Egypt in 2011.”
Istanbul’s Taksim Square and the surrounding areas have been the site of anti-government protests this month. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan responded by sending out riot police against the demonstrators.
The clashes have resulted in four deaths and about 5,000 people injured, Reuters said, citing the Turkish Medical Association.
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