STORY: Türkiye's hoteliers worry about fallout of Gaza crisis
SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 7, 2023
DATELINE: Nov. 8, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:43
LOCATION: Ankara
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of tourists in Istanbul Airport (date: June 7, 2023) (courtesy of ihlas news agency)
2. various of tourists at Grand Bazaar in Istanbul (date: Oct. 29, 2023) (courtesy of ihlas news agency)
3. various of tourists coming with a cruise ship in Samsun (date: Nov. 2, 2023) (courtesy of ihlas news agency)
4. various of tourists in hot air balloons at Cappadocia (date: Oct. 29, 2023) (courtesy of ihlas news agency)
5. various of tourists coming with a cruise ship in Marmaris (date: Oct. 12, 2023) (courtesy of ihlas news agency)
6. various of tourists at Pamukkale (date: Oct. 12, 2023) (courtesy of ihlas news agency)
7. SOUNDBITE (Turkish): MURAT TOKTAS, Vice president of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation

STORYLINE:

Türkiye's Mediterranean tourism hub Antalya is feeling the pinch of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict with industry professionals concerned over the fallout of the crisis for the local industry.

The southern province of Antalya is considered the heart of the multi-billion dollar industry with hundreds of resorts located on the Mediterranean coast, welcoming millions of foreign visitors each year.

Murat Toktas, a leading business professional and the vice president of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation, told Xinhua that the conflict has made potential travelers hesitate on their trips as they feel uneasy about it.

SOUNDBITE (Turkish): MURAT TOKTAS, Vice president of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation
"People are uneasy about a conflict that is ongoing near Türkiye, and they are concerned about it.
This has caused potential travelers to wait and see how the situation develops, regarding bookings.
This has caused tourists from Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan to cancel their trips to Türkiye. They amount to around 600,000 people.
In total, this will not affect Türkiye's overall figures, but early bookings for next year have stagnated.
Not only Türkiye, this crisis also affects other countries in the region as it has also affected air transportation from the conflict region.
Early bookings are experiencing stagnation as people are thinking if the conflict, might or might not spread to other regions.
During a previous political crisis with Israel, Türkiye stopped receiving some 250,000 annually."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ankara.
(XHTV)