Turkey’s 9-day Eid al-Adha holiday

Turkey’s tourism sector, which has been struggling over this season due to several factors, has praised the extension of the public holiday for Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) to nine days, noting that hotel occupancy rates in some resorts may hit 100 percent.

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım signed a document on Aug. 27, declaring the nine-day public holiday starting from Sept. 12 for Eid al-Adha. According to the document, all public employees will be granted administrative leave for a full day on Friday, Sept. 16, after the last day of Eid al-Adha, which celebrates the Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son for God. It officially extends the religious holiday to nine days, including the preceding and following weekends.

The head of the Travel Agencies Association of Turkey (TÜRSAB), Başaran Ulusoy, said that around 700,000 people were expected to go on vacation during the Eid holiday.

“They will likely prefer the warmest destinations, including the Mediterranean resorts of Antalya, Cyprus and Fethiye as well as the Aegean resort of Bodrum,” he noted.

According to the head of the Aegean Touristic Hotels Association (ETİK), Mehmet İşler, the number of local tourists visiting Aegean resorts will hit 5 million.

“We expect the hotel occupancy rates to reach 100 percent in the most popular Aegean coasts over the public holiday,” he said.