The German government from June plans to lift a tourist travel warning applied to 31 European countries, but Turkey is not among them, the Intellinews website reported, citing the German media.
In addition to Germany’s 26 partner countries in the European Union, the countries include the UK, and four states of the border-free Schengen area, which are not members of the EU: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, news service dpa said.
Berlin could adopt the travel plan as early as May 27, according to the news agency.
Germans make up one of the largest international tourist groups for the Turkish market, and if the travel warning on Turkey remains in place this summer, it will be a huge blow to the country’s tourism industry, which has pinned its hopes on a summer recovery after suffering badly amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Last year, more than 5 million German tourists visited Turkey, accounting for 11 percent of all international holidaymakers who arrived in the country. The number of German visitors stood at 3.6 million in 2017 and 4.5 million in 2018.
According to the latest data from the Turkish Tourism Ministry, Turkey welcomed only 435 German tourists in April. In the first four months of the year, 357,000 Germans vacationed in Turkey, marking a 56 percent year-on-year decline.
