Winter resorts add to Turkey’s tourist hotspots

Sun, sand, sea … and ski. Turkey is ramping up efforts to extend its tourism season to a year-round offering by trying to raise the profile of the country’s winter resorts.

This way it hopes to attract a new cohort of visitors, seeking the thrill of skiing on snow rather than water. 

Turkey has more than 40 registered winter resorts, and while many are not up to international standard, some have facilities and ski runs to rival the best in Europe or the US. 

Among the best-known and most popular resorts are Erciyes in central Turkey’s Kayseri region, Palandöken in the country’s east and Uludağ, roughly a 2½-hour drive from Istanbul, all of which offer numerous ski runs and a wide range of accommodation. 

Prontotour

Turkey’s winter tourism numbers have increased in recent years. This, however, has had little to do with any rise in snow seekers and more with European visitors wanting a winter getaway in exotic Istanbul or a cheaper off-season holiday on the Turkish Riviera, the Mediterranean coastal strip anchored on the province of Antalya that offers a year-round sun, sand and sea experience and is the backbone of the country’s tourism industry. 

Between them, Istanbul and Antalya account for 65 percent of winter tourism arrivals, with relatively few of the more than 6.7 million foreigners who visited Turkey between December and February last year finding their way to the country’s snowfields. 

Although there is a steady increase in the domestic skiing market, foreign visitors remain underrepresented when compared to regional rivals, says Erdem Kurt, co-founder of the winter tourism firm Ski Turkish.

“For example, Bulgaria attracts 1.5 million ski tourists from abroad annually, while in Turkey it is only 300,000 or 400,000,” he told AGBI. “This is low compared to our overall tourist numbers, with just a few hundred thousand out of the 51 million tourists visiting Turkey coming for skiing.”

While there is an increasing demand for ski holiday packages in the domestic market, many locals prefer travelling to overseas winter destinations, in particular to Bulgaria, Romania, Italy and Austria, says Ali Onaran, board chairman of the long-established tourism firm Prontotour. 

“The challenge for Turkey’s winter tourism segment, both at home and internationally, is to build product awareness,” he says. 

“When it comes to skiing destinations, compared to abroad, of course Turkey is not like Austria or Italy, it has no name, it is almost non-existent.”

Turkish powder hounds were expecting an extended skiing season this winter, and good falls were reported at some of the country’s leading slopes ahead of the official season opening on December 13. The challenge for tour operators and resort owners is to extend that enthusiasm further afield, attracting visitors from overseas.

Ski Turkish, established four years ago to market Turkish resorts overseas, was a response to the ski sector’s low brand profile in Europe and beyond, Kurt says.

“We noticed the lack of awareness abroad, the lack of promotions for winter skiing tourism,” he says. “We attended a fair in the UK and had a stand set up and many people did not know we had mountains and skiing options.”

This is changing, Kurt says, with local resorts also slowly starting to accept the need for self-promotion and expanding their client base. 

One strategy tourism promoters are deploying to attract winter visitors from abroad is to combine snow with culture, cashing in on the fact that many of Turkey’s premier ski resorts are close to historical or natural gems.

Prontotour

Some companies are offering combined tours to the Cappadocia region in central Turkey, famed for its unique rock formations and underground cities, along with skiing at the nearby Erciyes resorts, with ski holidays at Palandöken in the east being promoted along with trips to thermal spas and ancient tombs, while Uludağ is relatively close to Istanbul and also the city of Bursa, the first Ottoman capital. 

Another popular winter tie-in experience is the Eastern Express, a luxury train that runs from the capital, Ankara to the eastern city of Kars, while also serving cities close to some of the key ski resort regions, such as Kayseri and Erzurum. The trip covers almost 2,000km, with much of the route running through snow-covered terrain. 

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Turks in particular are increasingly attracted to the winter train trips, says Prontotour’s Ali Onaran, though foreign interest in the scenic rail-to-ski option is growing.

“The Eastern Express sells very well,” he says. “Interest has grown slowly but steadily as tourists have discovered these destinations.”

With Turkey’s state-backed tourism promotions still heavily focused on the sun and fun side of the country’s attractions, it may be up to the private sector, and word of mouth, to spread the message that there are indeed Turkish mountains capped with snow. 

This article was first published on December 18, 2024