A Spotlight on Turkish Travel Trends

*FLIGHT DATA THROUGH 30 April, 2022

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Turkey has historically been a top summer destination for European and Middle Eastern travellers alike. After taking a massive hit during COVID-19 from their 2019 record year of welcoming international travellers, 2022 is predicted to be a strong year for travel to Turkey. With summer travel plans heating up, we take a deep dive into Sojern’s trends for Turkey, and what travel marketers can do to take advantage of this surge in travel intent.

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Both Domestic and International Travel Up

Flight searches to Turkey are well up from 2020 and 2021 volumes. What is more interesting is that those figures are also up from 2019 volumes, before COVID. Domestic searches have increased by 38% compared to January 2020 (pre-COVID levels), and international searches have increased by 58%.

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This year alone, domestic searches increased by 115% compared to the beginning of 2022, and international searches increased by 88%.

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Travel Marketing Tip: It’s clear that travel recovery is on, and people are actively searching and dreaming of their next trip. Ensure you have a presence on the platforms where travellers are looking for inspiration, including Facebook and Instagram. Facebook and Instagram are an integral part of travel planning, where travel brands are inspiring and drawing in would-be travellers with their stunning beach and amenity images.

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Domestic Travel Dominates, but Old Favourites Returning 

A full 40% of flight searches to Turkey are domestic flights, but there is a long tail of origin markets also interested in this popular summer destination. Germany has long been a top origin market for Turkey given its short flight time, and is currently the top international origin market, followed by the UK. Turkey was one of the most popular destinations for UK travellers in 2019, having attracted around 2.3 million British holidaymakers.

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Travel Marketing Tip: It’s important to stay top of mind with travellers considering your destination. How do you keep them engaged? Sojern uses intent data to reach people looking at your destination or might be interested in your destination based on similar searches they’ve done. 

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Lead Times Differ Depending on Origin

Perhaps not surprisingly, those travelling domestically have a shorter lead time than those travelling further afield. For domestic travellers, we see that well over half (56%) are looking to travel in the next two weeks (15 days or sooner). For international travellers, lead times are much further out, with over a third (34%) looking to travel more than two months ahead of their search.

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Travel Marketing Tip: To reach potential guests at different points in their travel planning, you need a multichannel marketing plan that responds to what individual travellers need. For example, you’ll want to ensure you have a metasearch presence to capture for those domestic travellers who are looking to book quickly. For those who have just started their search, capture their attention with your display ads.

For more travel insights, remember to check out our Travel Insights Dashboard.