Antalya: An Established Tourism Empire

Recep Yavuz, who organized an exploratory trip to Hurghada, Egypt's rising star in tourism, compared the two destinations. Highlighting the growing tourism competition between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, Yavuz stated that he had visited the Hurghada region on the Red Sea coast many times before, and during his four-day stay, he met with investors and managers of dozens of hotels to make observations.

Yavuz noted that the question "Can Hurghada really compete with Antalya?" arose in every meeting, emphasizing that Antalya, with its decades of experience, is one of Europe's strongest resort destinations, while Hurghada is a city that is growing with much lower costs, attracting attention with aggressive investments, and rapidly rising in the European market. Yavuz, who has been working in Antalya tourism for 38 years, pointed out that this evaluation is important for young tourism professionals.

'HURGHADA IS STILL SMALL-SCALE'

Yavuz stated that Antalya has become a giant tourism economy hosting approximately 16-17 million foreign visitors, saying, "Antalya is an established tourism empire. The bed capacity is approaching 700,000. Although Hurghada still seems small-scale, it is on its way to becoming one of the fastest-growing resort areas in the world thanks to its year-round climate advantage, affordable pricing policy, and investment appetite," he said.

CONTINUOUS GROWTH DESPITE CRISES

Yavuz noted that Antalya is not only Turkey's but also one of Europe's strongest holiday destinations, saying, "With its sub-destinations like Lara, Belek, Side, Kemer, Alanya, and Kaş, which cater to completely different segments, it has a very wide tourism spectrum. Despite wars, pandemics, and economic crises in the last 10 years, Antalya has managed to grow continuously," he said. Recep Yavuz stated, "The city, which hosted about 11 million tourists in 2015, took a serious hit during the Russia crisis in 2016. After the pandemic, it made a big leap again. Today, Antalya's strength does not only come from sea-sand-sun tourism. These alone are not enough for a tourist to come. Strong airport infrastructure, a very developed 'all-inclusive' system, experienced human resources. Different tourism products such as golf, sports, health, and congress, and its operational experience set it apart from its competitors," he said.

'PERCEPTION OF ANTALYA GETTING EXPENSIVE'

Yavuz explained that the Belek region has now become not just a holiday center but one of the most important centers of European golf tourism, saying, "However, Antalya's problems are also growing along with this. Increasing energy costs, personnel shortages, rising operating expenses, and uncontrolled bed capacity increase are putting pressure on the sector. In recent years, the perception of 'Antalya is getting expensive' in the European market has also started to strengthen. To speak frankly, Antalya today has started to be overwhelmed by its own success," he said.

'BED CAPACITY IS INCREASING UNCONTROLLABLY'

Highlighting the continuation of uncontrolled growth as the most important problem, Recep Yavuz said, "Bed capacity is increasing uncontrollably. New hotels continue to be built. I think one day the hoteliers in Antalya will all together rebel, saying 'Don't build new hotels anymore.' Because the issue is no longer just increasing the number of beds, but being able to fill that bed sustainably," he said.

THEY FEED FROM THE SAME MARKETS

Yavuz noted that the cheaper and more aggressive Hurghada is like Antalya 30 years ago, highlighting that the region is growing very fast in the German, Russian, British, Polish, Czech, and Eastern European markets, feeding from Antalya's markets. Listing advantages such as family-friendly, year-round swimmable sea, low costs, and hotels 20-40% cheaper, diving, and water sports, Yavuz also listed its disadvantages against Antalya, such as less developed city and gastronomy culture, pollution and hygiene issues, lack of trained personnel, and security problems.

THE MAIN DIFFERENCE IS QUALITY

Yavuz stated that the main difference between the two cities is quality, saying, "Antalya has been trying to grow by raising quality for many years. At least in certain regions and certain facilities, it has succeeded in this. Hurghada, on the other hand, is currently growing more with a price advantage. So one applies a quality-centered model, the other a price-centered model. But the reality today is this; Antalya is still one of the strongest tourism brands in the Mediterranean. Hurghada, on the other hand, is a candidate to become one of the fastest-rising resort destinations in the world. And it seems that in the coming years, the tourism sector will talk much more about these two destinations side by side. Our future competitor is no longer Mallorca, but Hurghada, which takes Antalya as an example," he said.