Hotels in Turkey, such as the Ciragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul above, are feeling effects of recent events, with international leisure travellers recommended to avoid non-essential visits to the country, which is currently in the first weeks of a three-month state of emergency.Handout
When a travel writer describes a hotel as palatial, they're probably lying. Unless they're talking about the Kempinski hotel in Istanbul, which is, literally, palatial. A renovated 19th-century sultan's palace, the Ciragan Palace Kempinksi Istanbul is known for its views: From the infinity pool looking out at the passing ferries and container ships on one of the world's busiest waterways, or up the water toward the first of Istanbul's two Bosporus Strait-spanning bridges, where on July 15, part of a failed coup attempt began to play out across Turkey.
Bosporus-side, however, things were calm. The Kempinski is fortified by its high palace walls and tight, year-round security – coup or no coup. Guests were inside and accounted for and by all accounts, the nervous, noisy night passed uneventfully in the hotel.
On a sunny morning a week later, the hotel feels completely normal: Waiters carry silver trays of coffee and pastries to the few guests gathered on the patio; pool attendants lay down towels for the families chatting quietly while chowing down on the buffet breakfast.
"Business is as usual," explains Ralph Radtke, the general manager for the Kempinski Istanbul. "Luxury travellers are global explorers. They travel, and they continue to travel, following their travel enthusiasm."
"Business as usual" has taken on new meaning in Turkey, though. Tourist arrivals have dropped significantly since fall, 2015, following a series of bombings across the country, in particular the October bombing near the Ankara train station that killed at least 100 people. In November, Turkish armed forces downed a Russian warplane; Russia responded by banning travel to Turkey and the country saw an instant 7-per-cent drop in arrivals (that's now down 90 per cent). In January of this year, an ISIS suicide bomber detonated himself in Istanbul's historic centre, killing 10 people, mostly German tourists. Another suicide bomb on the busy Istiklal pedestrian mall in March further impacted tourism. German tourists still account for a 17-per-cent share of visitors to Turkey, but German arrivals are down 30 per cent from 2015.
People are avoiding Turkey. May, 2016 – the most recent month for which tourism statistics are available – saw 35 per cent fewer tourists arrive in the country than May, 2015. Visitors from the United States are down 22 per cent and from Canada 29 per cent. Australian visitors are down by nearly 60 per cent and Korean, Japanese and Chinese visitors have dropped by half.
A June 28 attack on Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, the country's main hub, and the failed military coup will only exacerbate an already fragile situation.
In February, a reported 1,300 hotels were for sale around the country. Plunging occupancy rates, especially in the Mediterranean region usually frequented by German and Russian tourists, left almost half of the hotels closed in Antalya and Marmaris for the summer 2016 season.
If the Kempinski hasn't been affected, it likely stands alone. Low visitor rates are reflected across the tourism sector, including at the high-end of the hotel market. Philippe Kronberg, the general manager of the Shangri-La Bosphorus, which sits a kilometre from the Kempinski in the pulsating Besiktas neighbourhood, explains that the Shangri-La is experiencing the general trend.
"We're at the same level as the market, where it's anywhere from 35 per cent to almost half [lower than usual]," he explains, noting that the Shangri-La usually maintains 80 per cent to 90 per cent occupancy. "We're the same as everyone else. It's pretty tough at the moment. The whole market dropped: five star, four star, everything. It's supposed to be the high season now, in terms of leisure travel, but it's stopped. Everybody is affected."
The Shangri-La is still doing strong local business, he explains, hosting events and conferences, but international leisure travel has mostly dried up. Shangri-La has adjusted by lowering rates on certain room types on certain week days and including a $100 (U.S.) dining credit on rooms (which start around $275 U.S.) until Aug. 31. The incentive is necessary.
The Shangri-La sits beside Dolmabahce Palace, a main and now heavily secured tourist site, and the Prime Minister of Turkey's Istanbul office. The hotel is effectively a bunker: Its main entrance is only accessible through a police checkpoint and all cars entering are scanned for explosives. Inside, a week after the coup, the lobby was empty on a Friday morning, except for one family checking out.
Most European governments and both Canada and the United States recommend against non-essential travel to Turkey, which is currently in the first weeks of a three-month state of emergency following the failed putsch. But Istanbul's luxury hotels remain popular with travellers from the Middle East and Gulf states, who Shangri-La's Kronberg thinks are less phased by the events in Turkey than Western travellers.
"There have been a few cancellations, but travellers from the Gulf countries seem pretty resilient," he explains. "They keep travelling. It hasn't impacted that segment too much at all."
Turkey's homegrown boutique hotel brand, the House Hotel Collection, has found the same. Its two hotels along the Bosporus and in Istanbul's Nisantasi neighbourhood – an upscale shopping district close to Taksim Square in the centre of the city – are both popular with Gulf travellers and have been less affected by the downturn.
Antony Doucet, the brand director for House Hotels, provides a different explanation for the steady business. "We are concentrating on the Middle Eastern market, because they feel more comfortable coming to Turkey than going to Europe," he says, noting that most European countries have complex visa arrangements for travellers from the region, whereas Turkey has relaxed visa regulations for Gulf travellers.
As of May, visitors to Turkey from Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Israel and Yemen had all increased, some more than 30 per cent, on the previous two years.
House Hotel is feeling the drop in tourists from Europe, North America and Asia, however. Rates at its Vault hotel, a stunning conversion of an Ottoman bank near the Galata Bridge in the quickly gentrifying Karakoy neighbourhood, are down 30 per cent – now starting at $86 (U.S.) for a basic room, or $525 for the spectacular penthouse suite with views of the old city. The group has closed its original hotel in nearby embassy neighbourhood of Galatasaray and is converting it to long-stay apartments for expats, a more stable business in the current environment, according to Doucet. He remains optimistic that the country's tourism will rebound.
"Maybe this coup is the bottom," Doucet says. "It can only get better, we hope. Maybe there will be a bit more political stability. Investors care more about political stability than democracy, so if investors return the tourism sector will see some positive effects. But I think it will take six months with no bombs for the tourists to come back."