By Peter Lukimson, exclusively to VK
Turkish air-company ‘Pegasus’ suddenly appeared on the Israeli market and offered a truly dumping deal: tickets form Tel-Aviv to Istanbul and back for $70. Israeli travel experts say they can’t exclude that this offer was created with the support of the Turkish government which hopes to win back Israeli tourists with the help of such a tempting offer.
Up until 2010 Turkey was the most favourite tourist sport of Israeli people. 6 flights from Tel-Aviv to Turkey were made daily during the season’s peak. Of course, the Israeli tourists were only a little percent of all tourists in Turkey, but the statistics shows that they used to spend much more money there than an average tourist from any other country. So the 80% drop in tourist inflow from Israel, even though was not a catastrophe, delivered a tangible blow to the country’s economy.
The major part of Israeli tourists who come to Turkey today are Arab citizens of Israel. Jewish population of Israel found a substitute for Turkish resorts in Bulgaria and Greece. At the same time the influx of tourists from Turkey to Israel holds on the same level, so it seems that the new enterprise by ‘Pegasus’ will be enjoyed first of all by Turkish citizens.
Israeli experts believe that the return of Israeli tourists to Turkey is possible only after some political changes in the relations between the two countries. No economic measures could bear proper fruits until then. This opinion can be supported by the fact that each time there was a slight chance of ‘warming up’ between the two states the flow if Israeli tourists increased by some 10%. But when it became clear that the hope was false all went back to ‘normal’.
