Turkish visa fees to hit Bahraini tourists

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THE number of visitors to Turkey from Bahrain is expected to drop sharply in the next few months following the introduction of visa fees, according to travel agents.

The GDN reported last Wednesday that Bahraini citizens wishing to travel to Turkey from Christmas Day are required to pay an electronic visa fee of $60 for a maximum visit period of 30 days.

Bahrainis visiting for a longer period must apply for a visa in person through the Turkish Embassy in Bahrain, with the fees for a period of 30 to 60 days being $135, while it is $270 for 60 to 90 days.

Rules

A senior travel agent told the GDN that the new rules meant families planning trips over the holiday season are looking at alternative destinations.

Bahrain Holidays managing director and chief executive Mahmood Al Kadhem, who is also co-owner of Al Kadhem Tours, said Turkey would still remain the number one destination for people in the region, but it will eventually lose out to emerging tourist markets.

A total of 130 travel agencies – mainly from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Oman – come under an alliance represented by Bahrain Holidays, a firm that organises group tours for GCC visitors across the world.

Five new agencies from Kuwait are set to join the alliance next month.

“A family of say six people planning a visit to Turkey now face an additional expense of BD150, which many see as the cost of one more family member,” said Mr Al Kadhem.

Mr Al Kadhem

“We faced huge problems on the day the announcement was made from families who reached Bahrain International Airport to go to Turkey and didn’t know what to do, or whether their visa requests had been accepted or not.”

He said some families had asked him to change their destination to Azerbaijan which issues a visa on arrival for around BD10, or Georgia which doesn’t require a visa.

“This is not the main summer holiday and families are on tight budgets for Christmas and New Year; the same applies to planning trips during the spring break in the second week of next month.”

Mr Al Kadhem said the new visa fees could deal a blow to Turkish tourism in the long run.

“I don’t understand why the visa fees were reintroduced but within a year I predict a 20 per cent drop in the number of Bahrainis visiting Turkey.

“We hope the decision is reversed, if not we are already exploring other attractive destinations such as Sochi in Russia, the Croatian capital Zagreb, and the Serbian capital Belgrade, amongst other options.”

Statistics revealed by Turkish tourism officials in April showed that 20,792 visited Turkey from Bahrain in the first two months of the year, which was a 38pc increase from the same period last year.

In 2018, 77,075 visited Turkey from Bahrain with an increase of 29.66pc from 59,442 in 2017.

mohammed@gdn.com.bh

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