Tourism season intensity at Trabzon Airport

Arap tourists visiting Trabzon, which has the richest historical and natural beauties in terms of tourism destinations in the Eastern Black Sea Region, create a density at the airport. In recent years, Trabzon, which has been attracting increasing interest, is currently experiencing its busiest days. While about 12 countries operate direct flights from Gulf and Middle Eastern countries to Trabzon Airport on international flights daily, Gulf countries are predominantly among these countries. Flights to Trabzon are made daily from countries such as Kuwait, Amman, Sharjah, Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Muscat, Doha, Bahrain, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, with visitors from Gulf countries particularly preferring the plateaus. Mehmet Ali Tuna, Vice President of TÜRSAB Eastern Black Sea Region, evaluating the tourism season, stated that there are 21 flights landing on international routes at Trabzon Airport, saying, ‘Last year, on July 1, 2023, 15-16 flights were landing in Trabzon, today it lands as 21 flights. However, this does not reflect on the occupancy rates of both our agencies and hotels. There are many reasons for this. Especially today, there is an excess of unregistered facilities in the region, with figures around 2 thousand being discussed. These are terrifying numbers. In this context, there is a draft law that our industry welcomes, which the Ministry has taken. However, I do not think that this satisfaction is welcomed in local administrations and managements. Today, inspections are as ineffective. Today, for instance, the first inspection is 100,000, the second inspection is 500,000, and the third inspection is announced as 1 million. But unfortunately, we do not see the reflection of this on the field.’ Tuna noted that tourists staying in Trabzon prefer day trips and mentioned various tourism destinations such as Uzungol, Cal Cave, Hidirnebi, Batumi, Ayder, and investments made in Ordu for day trips. He also emphasized the importance of increasing investments to extend the duration of Arab tourists’ stays in Trabzon.