Nobody can come cruising in Türkiye right now. Everyone is staying at home as it’s the responsible thing to do. No one could have predicted this situation 6 months ago, and in the few short weeks since COVID-19 took hold, our world, our economy, and our lives have changed completely.

But, the risk of coronavirus will pass and current travel restrictions will eventually be lifted. Hopefully, it won’t be long until we start to feel safer and regain some sort of normality. At this point, having been confined to our homes and unable to socialise or enjoy ourselves for some time, we probably all deserve a holiday.

It’s pointless trying to persuade you to come cruising in Türkiye now, but you can come later this season.

During this time of coronavirus, it seems pointless writing blogs trying to persuade you to come cruising in Türkiye as we know it’s pointless. What we are going to do is try and encourage you to reschedule your Mediterranean and Turkish itineraries for later this season. Please support tourism and rework your plans rather than cancelling them completely.

Tourism during the coronavirus pandemic

Tourism the world over is under pressure. Governments are now bracing themselves for the economic impact current travel restrictions will cause and putting recovery measures in place. Never before have we witnessed anything like this with flights grounded, ports and borders shut, popular resorts and destinations closed, and countries encouraging their citizens to “stay at home” in self-isolation or quarantine.

Over 50 million jobs in travel and tourism are at risk according to The World Economic Forum. We all enjoy our freedom and current containment measures in many countries, although necessary, have taken a lot of the basic things we took for granted away. On a good note, most of us in the cruising industry are lucky enough to live in modern homes with food in the cupboards, toilet rolls in the bathroom, and Netflix on TV – life is not that bad! But for others that are less fortunate, for businesses involved in tourism, and for a lot of seasonal workers in the worlds well-loved resorts, the situation is far from rosy.

The impact on tourism will, of course, depend on how long it takes for the pandemic to pass and travel restrictions to be lifted. The World Travel and Tourism Council have said that it could take many months for tourism to recover and for people to regain the confidence to travel. We are hoping that’s not the case.

Türkiye intends to start lifting restrictions and operating flights again from May, if the risks have passed. Many believe this is optimistic. Others believe June is more realistic. If that’s the case, Türkiye and many other destinations in the Med can still enjoy a few months vital summer trade.

Don’t cancel, reschedule.

Rescheduling your travel arrangements rather than asking for refunds will go some way towards boosting tourism during these difficult times. You can’t come cruising right now, but please do come and enjoy all the Med has to offer later this summer. The fresh air, cool mountain breeze and clear tranquil seas around Türkiye, Italy, Greece and Spain are healing and offer the ideal location to relax, rejuvenate and recover.

Stay-in, stay safe and look after your loved ones. For help re-planning your trips or more information on cruising in Türkiye, please CONTACT US.