Sezgin Özer at Antalya Tourism Fair: "Some Hotels' Pricing Mistakes Created a Trust Problem"
Speaking on a CIS market panel at the Antalya Tourism Fair, TimeServices Global General Manager Sezgin Özer discussed the 2023 season and pricing missteps that shook guest trust.
At the Antalya Tourism Fair, Sezgin Özer, General Manager of TimeServices Global, joined a panel titled "2024 for the CIS Market," moderated by Recep Yavuz, alongside FIT Holiday General Manager Tuncer Emrullah, Best Servis Travel CEO İkram Nizam, and Loti CEO Aydın Yaşayacak.
Sezgin Özer noted that the 2023 season had gone well overall in the CIS market, though the Russian and Ukrainian markets were down due to the ongoing war — the Russian market specifically down around 30% compared to 2019, while other markets were growing. He confirmed a slowdown in high-season booking flow, affecting both Antalya and Bodrum, pointing to global inflationary pressure on costs as one driver of the pricing adjustments operators had to make.
He also pointed to a trust issue during the season: some hotels sold rooms in high season at rates below what guests had already paid for early bookings, undermining confidence. Sezgin Özer said the sector needed to learn from this going into next season and enter 2024 better prepared, adding that destination promotion should be left to local authorities while operators and agencies continue marketing their own hotel, brand, and tour products directly.