In Palandöken, local tourists are no match for the Russians: At Palandöken Ski Center, one of the important centers of winter tourism, the concern created by pre-season reservation cancellations from Russia has come to naught with the interest of tourists in the half-term holiday.
The occupancy rate reaching 90 percent in the hotels in the region also made the operators happy.
Palandöken and Konaklı Ski Centers Operation Vice Director Cem Vuraler, said in a statement to the AA correspondent, 15 said that they spend a very busy day term vacation.
Stating that they spent the season without any problems, Vuraler said, “We had a time in which all our customers from Turkey and abroad were satisfied without any accident or trouble. This made us happy. After the semester, there are a lot of our customers who come to the country to make use of the daily or weekend holidays, especially on the weekend, ”he said.
Vuraler, until the end of the season said they expect to continue this interest.
Number of visitors increased despite Russian cancellations
Polat Erzurum Resort Hotel Front Office Manager Ahmet Baykal said that despite the cancellation of reservations from Russia before the season, they had a full season.
Stating that Palandöken is in a much better position than many ski resorts with heavy snowfall, Baykal said:
“We opened the season on December 6th. The number of our guests coming to Palandöken from different destinations has increased slightly compared to previous years. Especially during the semester, the tourist density from the domestic market has reached its highest level for Palandöken this year. This year, the hotels in Palandöken have closed this gap, despite the fact that Russian tourists who have made reservations could not come, the high demand of the domestic market. All of the hotels have spent the semester at 90 percent occupancy. Apart from that, we will host our Iranian guests this week as it is the "Revolution Day" in Iran as of February 11. We have different groups until the end of February. We will host especially congresses and meeting groups in March. I hope that we will continue to provide skiing services until the end of March without any problems in this winter season that we have had full.
Palan Hotel Deputy General Manager Ali Güney noted that Erzurum is an important place for winter tourism.
Pointing out that Palandöken has a ski run of approximately 46 kilometers and Konaklı with a length of 48 kilometers, Güney said, “This is a place where both skiing and thermal springs are available. You can ski in the daytime and enjoy the hot springs in the evening. In summer, this is a very convenient place for cultural tourism. There are places such as Yakutiye Madrasa and Double Minaret Madrasa. I hope we are working to catch the occupancy in this period after the semester ”.
