Poles occupied hotels abandoned by Ukrainians. They are besieging a tourist paradise

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian tourists, whose number decreased by 67% in 2022 and 25% in 2023, were replaced by Poles. They occupy hotels abandoned by their eastern neighbors. While the number of Polish tourists, which reached 1.5 million last year, increased by 37% in the first quarter of this year, Ukraine… also started to grow again.

Poles replaced Ukrainian tourists in Turkey

Polish tourists replaced Ukrainians in Turkey. The number of Poles coming to Turkey has doubled in 4 years and exceeded 1.5 million. In turn, the number of Ukrainian guests dropped from 2 million to 800,000. Due to these changes in statistics, Polish tourists have become the fourth market, especially in the popular Antalya.

Tourism industry specialists expect that this year the number of Polish tourists who like to book their holidays early will increase by at least 25%. According to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in 2022, when Russia began to invade Ukraine, the number of tourists from Ukraine decreased by 67.2 percent, while the number of tourists from Poland increased by 94.1 percent. Last year, the number of tourists coming from the rebuilding Ukraine increased by 24.3 percent, while in Poland the growth rate was 35.5 percent. Last year, the number of Ukrainian tourists coming to Turkey was approximately 840,000, and Polish tourists – 1.5 million.

In the first quarter of 2024, the number of tourists from Ukraine increased by 7% compared to last year, reaching approximately 135,000, and the number of tourists from Poland increased by 37.2%.

Polish tourists are important for Turkish tourism

The Mediterranean Association of Hoteliers and Tour Operators (AKTOB) stated that Poland has become an important market for Antalya, which will provide guests in the city all year round.

“The Ukrainian market is still not what we would like to see it, but we see signs of recovery. After the British, Germans and Russians show the greatest interest. The surprise country this year is Poland. Last year we hosted almost 1 million Polish tourists in Antalya. We expect this number to exceed 1 million 250 thousand this year. – say representatives of the organization.

Hakan Saatçioğlu, President of the Association of Professional Hotel Managers, said that the promotional activities carried out abroad by the Turkish Agency for the Promotion and Development of Tourism played an active role in the emergence of alternative markets and stated that the number of tourists coming from Poland surprised professionals in the tourism industry.

“Last year we hosted 15 million 600 thousand tourists, this year our target is 17 million. The number of tourists increased by 20 percent compared to last year. Last year, Poles were in fourth place, behind Russians, Germans and the British. Last year we saw a significant increase in interest in England and Poland. In Poland, there was an increase of as much as 35 percent,” said Saatçioğlu.