An Overview to the Most Visited Cities
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results says #AlbertEinstein
When the subject comes to tourism, everyone suffers from why tourism revenues do not increase -sufficiently- despite the ever-increasing number of tourists.
Everybody lies, but numbers don't lie. Of course, there are those who interpret the numbers differently and try to achieve different results. Then everyone has no choice but to say let them live what they believe.
I tried to analyse the 9 cities that host the most tourists in the world with numbers.
As I mentioned in my previous article “Is quality or quantity in hotel investment important”, healthy and efficient growth targets are not very realistic after making feasibility studies. In the list below, you will see the most popular cities that have received the most visitors in recent years. I focused on 9 cities that receive at least 12 million or more visitors per year.
Of course, some of the most basic questions that come to mind are the number of hotels in cities that receive so many visitors, and how much they are sold at nightly rates. I wish that hotels were opened in parallel with the number of visitors, those hotels would turn into businesses with low circulation, and the tourism professionals working in those businesses would be happy. These three requirements can basically gain momentum with 1 parameter; If hotels are being sold at optimal profit per night!
Even if you have the best airport in the world, the best climate, the best service, the most diverse types of tourism, and the youngest population, we need to evaluate the brand image differently from them. It is a very important concept that takes time, requires effort, and needs to be very, very careful. You can spend millions of €, but the components of the positive image you are trying to promote consist of a multi-layered structure.
Visiting fairs and posing smiling are only part of the job. The important and vital part is communication. It is very important that you give people an "experience" rather than social media or any kind of written/visual communication. Some may be cost-oriented, but I believe there are many people who change their preferences for total satisfaction.
I will try to convey my impressions by sharing anecdotes about 3 consecutive experiences I had yesterday -which will probably be the subject of another article.
1-I found the products exhibited in the fruit aisle in 2 different supermarkets operating as chains across the country, moldy, stinky, in short, in disgrace. I gave feedback to the cashiers. One of them did not even look at me, he pretended not to hear. The other said, “Yes, we will throw them away”.
2-I encountered one of the worst services of my life in a restaurant operating as a chain across the country. So much so that I can't remember what I ate. I conveyed the situation to the friend at the cash register and I get it in response! I remember she said
3-We went to the theatre yesterday for the theatre play that I have been waiting for 1 week. I felt sorry for the State Opera and Ballet theatre staff who were insensitive to general unpolite and disrespectful behavior in the hall.
As you can see, there are various factors that affect the service I receive for 3 different experiences. So maybe what I ate was delicious, but the bad service I received overshadowed it. The theatre performance was great, but unfortunately, other negative factors outweighed the taste I got.
Now, going back to 2 paragraphs ago, you can play #MorganFreeman in an advertisement for one of the world's best airline companies, "THY". (Although there is no profile suitable for Turkey in terms of age!) You can host the Champions League final match. You can be one of the countries where the world's most prestigious films are shot. World-famous hotel chains can make investments in your country.
-However, if you slaughter a camel on the airport's apron, you will not be able to maintain your tourism image!
-If the deceptions of taxi drivers become TT on Twitter, you will not be able to promote your tourism image!
-If you have tourism professionals defrauding their customers on comment sites, you will not be able to maintain your tourism image!
-If you have strange shopkeepers (I call them cannibals) throwing chairs on the sidewalks and staring at passers-by, you will not be able to hold on to your tourism image!
-If the point of view looks at the tourist as a goose to be plucked into the bones of society, you will not be able to hold your tourism image!
The negativities I have listed above may be an indication of why the tourists coming to Istanbul are less than other cities in terms of spending per night.
I found the average hotel sales figures for the last 12 months on #Trivago website and prepared the table below. The actual sales figures of the hotels and the sales figures in b2c may not exactly match, but I find it meaningful for us to have an idea.
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For example, I made random searches on #booking.com and #expedia.com sites based on 21-26 August 2023. How many hotels did you come across in my searches for the cities whose names are mentioned in the tables I shared in the article? I am sharing below the statistics listed in all categories as large and small accommodation units.
1-Bangkok; 2.194 tesis
2-Paris; 4.737 tesis
3-Londra; 5.548 tesis
4-Dubai; 5.730 tesis
5-Singapur; 367
6-Kuala Lumpur; 2.363
7-New York City; 1.812
8-?stanbul; 5.102
9-Tokyo; 2.211
So how many passengers come to these cities? There may be some who say that we do not have so many hotels in Istanbul because there are so many passengers. I did some research to compare New York City and Istanbul, which I visited years ago, and came to interesting results.
While the number of passengers hosted by #IstanbulAirport was approximately 64 million in 2022, #SabihaG?k?enAirport reached approximately 31 million passengers. In other words, we are talking about 92 million passengers per year in Istanbul.
New York #JohnFKennedyAirport, which is actively operating in New York City in 2022, hosted an average of 55 million passengers, while #NuevaYorkNewarkAirport reached 43 million and #LaGuardiaAirport reached 28 million passengers. Therefore, we are talking about 126 million passengers per year in New York City.
Istanbul; 92 million passengers / 13.4 million visitors / Number of hotels 5.102 / room fee 115 € per night
New York City; 126 million passengers / 13.6 million visitors / Number of hotels 1,812 / nightly room fee 361 €
I leave the last word to Irish writer #SamuelBeckett
“I always tried, I always lost. Let it be. Try again, be defeated again. Better beat”
I wish you a nice week
Yakup Demir May 22, 2023
Hotel General Manager | Expert in Luxury Hospitality Management & Team Leadership
1 个月Great and valuable sharing, Congratulations... Hamza YILDIRIM