speaking after a cabinet meeting on Aug. 15, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozda\u011f announced that the Eid holiday would extended to 10 days in Turkey this year.<\/p>\n
The cabinet agreed at a meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan to extend the holiday to the full 10 days, Bozda\u011f said.<\/p>\n
According to the cabinet decision, the Eid al-Adha holiday will start on Aug. 28 and end on Sept. 3.<\/p>\n
Bozda\u011f told reporters the decision was taken in the context of \u201chelping family visits, reviving the tourism sector, and having a positive effect on commerce.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was quite a positive decision for our sector,\u201d the head of a leading sector association told the state-run Anadolu Agency on Aug. 15, while also thanking to authorities.<\/p>\n
Turkish Hoteliers Federations (T\u00dcROFED) President Osman Ay\u0131k said nearly half a million people were expected to flock to the country\u2019s resorts during the extended holiday.<\/p>\n
Another sector player said the sector would likely make an additional 1 billion liras in revenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cNearly 1 million people will travel throughout the country and that will enable us to earn 1 billion liras. The extension of the holiday will bring about a rebound in the sector\u2019s revenue, further fueling the Turkish economy,\u201d T\u00dcROFED Vice President and Aegean Touristic Hoteliers Association (ET\u0130K) head Mehmet \u0130\u015fler told Do\u011fan News Agency on Aug. 16.<\/p>\n
A top local representative from the Turkish Travel Agencies Association (T\u00dcRSAB) said the sector earned nearly 800 million liras in revenue during a nine-day public holiday last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than 700,000 local tourists had a holiday during the long public holiday last year. This figure will likely hit 1 million this year. In this vein, over 1 billion liras of additional value will be created over this year,\u201d T\u00dcRSAB\u2019s Ali K\u0131rl\u0131 said, as quoted by Anadolu Agency.<\/p>\n
President Erdo\u011fan had said on Aug. 11 that the government was reviewing the possibility of extending the Eid al-Adha holiday, adding that such a move would be \u201cfelicitous\u201d for Turkey\u2019s struggling tourism sector.<\/p>\n
However, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and industrialists spoke out against the extension of the holiday, worrying about the effect on economic productivity.<\/p>\n
But tourism players backed the longer holiday, saying it would improve people\u2019s spirits rather than hurt production. The tourism sector has been struggling over the past two years amid a number of diplomatic crises and a series of bomb attacks, they noted.<\/p>\n
H\u00fcrriyet Daily News<\/p>\n
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