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Low projections dim Ankara's high hopes for tourism recovery

Turkey plans to begin reopening domestic travel in late May, but prospects remain gloomy for its crucial tourism sector, which relies largely on foreign visitors.
A municipality worker sprays disinfectant over a tram to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in central Istanbul, Turkey, March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Kemal Aslan - RC2DMF9Q7YSE
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Turkey’s government is drawing up plans to reopen the pandemic-hit tourism sector, a vital source of hard-currency revenues for the ailing economy, but “new normal” formulas for travel and accommodation could fall short of salvaging the sector and premature timing risks prolonging the COVID-19 contagion.

A return to the “old normal” appears a distant prospect for the global tourism industry, which, along with aviation, has suffered the heaviest blows from the pandemic. While 2020 is widely regarded as a lost year for tourism, the prospects of full recovery thereafter remain murky. The global tourism turnover was nearly $1.5 trillion last year, with services sold to some 1.5 billion customers. Extensive damage is expected in related sectors such as transportation, food industries and agriculture as well as sub-sectors catering to travelers. European and Asian countries had the largest shares from global tourism revenues last year — 39% and 30%, respectively — and they are now bound to lose the most.

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