The Fear Caused by the Earthquake May Reduce the Number of Tourists to 8 Million in Istanbul

The Fear Caused by the Earthquake May Reduce the Number of Tourists to 8 Million in Istanbul
The earthquake in Kahramanmaraş and the expected earthquake in Istanbul negatively affected the food and beverage industry and the tourism industry. According to tourism sector representatives, the number of 14 million tourists expected to come to Istanbul may decrease to 8.
            The destruction caused by the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş, which caused the death of tens of thousands of people, extended to Istanbul. According to the reports prepared by the business world to draw attention to the negative effects of the expected big Istanbul earthquake, it was revealed that the damage would be around 300 billion dollars. But before the earthquake, only the fear of an 'earthquake' undermined the tourism sector.
“There were serious reservation cancellations.”
 All Restaurants and Tourism Association (TÜRES) President Ramazan Bingöl stated that since the earthquake occurred on February 6, there has been a decrease of 50 to 70 percent in the business of restaurants, especially due to the negative impact of the expectation that there will be an earthquake in Istanbul, on tourists. He said there were cancellations.
“40 percent of cancellations are from tourists.”
Bingöl said that after the great pain caused by the earthquakes that took place on February 6, people were affected psychologically and at the same time, "How shall we eat now?" He said that he started to think like this, which caused a 50 percent job loss at first.
Stating that with the increase in the publications about the expected big earthquake in Istanbul, the panic spread to the tourists, Bingöl said, “The job loss has climbed up to 70 percent. There was a serious reservation cancellation in February. 30-40 percent of the cancellations came from tourists. If it continues in this way, there will be a great decrease in tourism revenues in March, April, and May," he said.
According to Bingöl, reservation cancellations in the food and beverage sector resulted from the fact that most of the foreign tourists expected to come to Turkey did not come to Turkey.
“There may be a 40 percent loss in tourism income.”
According to Yüksel Türemez, Chairman of TÜRSAB Istanbul Bosphorus Regional Representative Board, it is expected that there will be a loss of 30-40 percent in the number of tourists coming to Istanbul due to the earthquake and tourism income every year.
  “The number of tourists coming to Istanbul may decrease to 8 million.”
    "I think the loss to be caused by earthquakes in Istanbul throughout the season will be in the range of 30-40 percent," said Türemez, adding that while 14 million tourists are expected to come to Istanbul this year, this number may drop to 8 million.
 
SOURCE: https://www.turizmguncel.com/haber/deprem-korkusu-istanbula-gelen-turist-sayisi-8-milyona-dusebilir