Terror bomb threat to Turkish tourism

The maze of shops comprising the exotic Grand Bazaar in central Istanbul has carpets, jewellery, souvenirs – everything, it seems, but customers.

Shopkeepers say the wave of terrorist attacks that stunned Turkey’s most important commercial city and killed 57 people has frightened buyers away.

“Business has changed. It has almost died,” Mehmet Uzungun, 32, a salesman at a bazaar gift shop said. ”After the first attacks, it was kind of OK. But after the second attacks, there’s nothing.”

Economists say it is too early to tell whether the attacks will inflict long-term damage on Turkey’s tourism industry or derail its economic upswing.

“We don’t have enough data,” said Serhan Cevik of Morgan Stanley in London. “This is an irrational act that will have some consequences. It’s a big economy, so it will recover. But if this goes on, it could become an issue.”

The splendour of Istanbul draws millions of curious visitors each year.

But suicide attacks against two Istanbul synagogues on November 15 and then again five days later against the British Consulate and London-based HSBC bank have severely shaken the city.

Foreign governments – including the United States, Britain, Australia and Germany – have issued an outpouring of warnings that their citizens should avoid nonessential travel to Turkey.

But the Turkish Hotel Association said that advising people to stay away plays into the hands of terrorists trying to sow chaos.

“What we request from our neighbours, friends around the world and allied countries is to encourage travel to Turkey more than before,” the association said in a statement. ”Travel so that the terrorists will see that the world is together.”

But French tour operator FRAM said it was bracing for a large number of cancellations among its 160 tourist bookings to Istanbul through February.

Pacha Tours, another operator that specialises in Turkish tours, said that it also received concerned calls from travel agencies.

“We only received one call after the first attacks, but since the attacks on Thursday, 100 people have cancelled or delayed their trip,” said Didier Huet, Pacha commercial director.

About 13.5 million tourists visited Turkey last year – led by 3.3 million Germans, 2.3 million Russians and about a million Britons, according to the Tourism Ministry. Turkey counts on tourism, its second-largest source of foreign currency earnings, to add €8.6bn a year to its economy.