Racism and Rising Rates Reduce Arab Tourism in Turkey
Turkey faces a 20-40% drop in Arab tourists amid racist attacks and price gouging. Post-COVID violence and police inaction have driven many Arab visitors to seek safer, more affordable destinations
During 2023 and 2024, Turkey witnessed a significant decline in the number of tourists from Arab countries, specifically from the Gulf and Iraq. According to official Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism figures, the rate of decline in Arab tourists ranged from 20% to 40% during these past two years, depending on each country of origin.
This decline was for several reasons, most notably racist attacks against or mistreatment of Arab tourists and price manipulation in front of them. The problem began in the post-COVID pandemic period when Turkey witnessed many attacks against Arab tourists, many of whom were killed or injured in Istanbul and several other Turkish tourist cities. Video clips documenting these attacks spread widely in Arab circles.
Video clips from surveillance cameras and smartphones have recorded verbal attacks on Arab tourists, their expulsion from restaurants and shops without a clear reason, assaults on Arab women and children, the refusal to receive Arab tourists or humiliating treatment of them. Arab tourists have also complained about exaggerated price increases, with some shop, restaurant, and cafe owners in tourist areas demanding they pay three or four times the actual bill amount. In some cases, matters turned into fistfights if tourists refused to pay.
The police have intervened in many cases, according to eyewitness accounts and surveillance camera documents.
The past two years have also witnessed hundreds of announcements from several Arab embassies that they are following up on cases of attacks on their citizens in Turkey. There are also many Arabs who have been detained by the Turkish authorities due to quarrels or their refusal to pay bills while in Turkey.
My story is that I saw the prices on the menu, and my wife, children and I ordered several dishes. I estimated the bill to be 3,000 Turkish liras, but the bill came to me for 12,000 liras. When I refused to pay and asked for the menu again to calculate the real amount, the restaurant workers gathered around me and beat me.
Ahmed, a Kuwaiti citizen, who was recorded in a video clip being beaten by a restaurant owner in Turkey, told The Media Line: “My story is that I saw the prices on the menu, and my wife, children and I ordered several dishes. I estimated the bill to be 3,000 Turkish liras, but the bill came to me for 12,000 liras. When I refused to pay and asked for the menu again to calculate the real amount, the restaurant workers gathered around me and beat me.”
I continued to refuse to pay, and they called the police, but due to the severity of the beating, I suffered fractures in my hand and leg. My wife and children also documented the incident in video clips, which spread on social media. The police came after that, but they did not solve the case and did not stand by my side even after the assault on me.
He continued: “I continued to refuse to pay, and they called the police, but due to the severity of the beating, I suffered fractures in my hand and leg. My wife and children also documented the incident in video clips, which spread on social media. The police came after that, but they did not solve the case and did not stand by my side even after the assault on me.”
I have been going to Turkey twice a year since 2015, because of the nice weather and low prices, but in 2023, a Turkish woman in Trabzon, whom I did not know and had never dealt with, came to me and started shouting at me. All I understood was that she rejected the presence of Arabs in her city and said that we had defiled the city.
Nour Qasimi, a Bahraini citizen, told The Media Line about her recent experience in Turkey, saying, “I have been going to Turkey twice a year since 2015, because of the nice weather and low prices, but in 2023, a Turkish woman in Trabzon, whom I did not know and had never dealt with, came to me and started shouting at me. All I understood was that she rejected the presence of Arabs in her city and said that we had defiled the city.”
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She continued, “I did not respond to her and continued on my way, but she and others followed me and beat me, took off my hair covering, and tore my clothes. When I went to the police station, they refused to record the incident because they did not know who the person who assaulted me was. They also asked me for a large sum of money to get a translator because they do not understand any language other than Turkish, and they refused to use electronic translation. Since then, I have not returned to Turkey and will never return.”
The campaigns targeting Arabs and tourists have increased, especially after 2022 and the rise in prices. We used to receive dozens of complaints every day at our embassy and follow up on them with the Turkish authorities.
A former GCC diplomat in Turkey, who refused to reveal his name or nationality, told The Media Line: “The campaigns targeting Arabs and tourists have increased, especially after 2022 and the rise in prices. We used to receive dozens of complaints every day at our embassy and follow up on them with the Turkish authorities.”
He added: “Often, the authorities in Turkey do not respond to our complaints or even the incidents that occur, and we were forced to resort to other methods to protect our citizens or help them in difficult cases, including cooperating with security companies and some taxi and hotel drivers, as we contact them if they are in areas or cities far from the presence of our employees so that they can provide assistance to citizens instead of us or until we arrive,” he said.
“The language barrier is also a big problem,” the diplomat added. “We tried repeatedly to communicate with the Turkish authorities about the need to provide certified translators at least by phone, but the authorities always rejected this idea. After that, we provided a hotline for translation in difficult cases, but after a while, the Turkish police refused to cooperate with translation by phone, and this is a big problem for us.”
The diplomat also confirmed: “I do not remember during my work any case that was resolved through the judiciary for tourists. Cases always take a long time, and their files are closed without a ruling in favor of anyone. In many cases, the files of these cases are closed at the police station, and the victim is not informed of the matter, except in the case of a Turkish person, in which case the decision is made directly.”
According to the diplomat, “There were thousands of cases related to pickpocketing, theft, beating, fraud, assault, and others, and I do not remember any citizen getting his right, and this was something that worried us, even though we cover the expenses of the lawyer and the lawsuit, and we follow up on these cases, but in the end, we reach a dead end.”
We informed the Turkish authorities repeatedly that the recurrence of these events would have dire consequences, but the authorities did not respond. However, in reality, due to the diplomatic relations between my country and Turkey, we could not announce directly and frankly that the tourist might be subjected to an assault, and that it is not preferable for him to visit Turkey.
He also pointed out: “We informed the Turkish authorities repeatedly that the recurrence of these events would have dire consequences, but the authorities did not respond. However, in reality, due to the diplomatic relations between my country and Turkey, we could not announce directly and frankly that the tourist might be subjected to an assault, and that it is not preferable for him to visit Turkey.”
Cengiz Ahmet, a former media official at several Turkish embassies in the GCC, told The Media Line: “These are individual cases of assault, which happen everywhere in the world, but are being exaggerated in the media in a systematic campaign to target tourism in Turkey.”
Ahmet added: “We cannot accept these allegations. There are millions of tourists who visit Turkey every year, who go and are treated very well, who leave and come back again, who love Turkey very much, and no assault has occurred against them.”
He also noted that “Some tourists behave immorally, and the Turkish people respect morals very much, and some of these tourists do not know the law, do not speak the language, and do some provocative practices against the Turkish people, and so the response comes to them, and the police do their part and resolve these disputes, so we completely reject these allegations.”
Zahra, a reservations officer at a travel agency, told The Media Line: “Reservations to Turkey are decreasing every year. Previously, more than 500 people used to book through our office per week, but today we don’t have more than 20-30 people. Turkey is no longer the preferred destination for GCC tourists.”
Prices have risen there like crazy, and tourists are paying double what others pay. Also, the constant attacks and the racism of the people have led to people not traveling to Turkey.
She continued: “Prices have risen there like crazy, and tourists are paying double what others pay. Also, the constant attacks and the racism of the people have led to people not traveling to Turkey.”
Consequently, alternative destinations like Georgia and Azerbaijan are becoming popular. According to Zahra, these countries are similar in nature to Turkey, “and their people are very kind, and their prices are much lower than Turkey. Now it is the preferred destination for tourists who used to go to Turkey.”
Tuba Gundez, a tourism company owner in Turkey, told The Media Line: “Unfortunately, the number of Arab tourists has decreased significantly. Now we receive less than half of the previous number in the season. Everyone is suffering. We are trying to fix it and provide more offers to attract tourists but to no avail.”
She continued: “Unfortunately, we always used to say that any attack on a tourist would spread and cause a problem in the flow of tourists, but no one listened to us. Now everyone is suffering from the weak tourist turnout from Arabs.”
Gundez confirmed, saying: “Arabs spend an average of $100-200 per day per person, which is more than tourists from South Asian countries or even Europe or other countries. They also buy a lot and prefer to shop here. Now we have lost all of that.”
Recently, several campaigns have appeared on social media, calling on Arabs to return to Turkey again and saying that they are welcome. There are also attractive price offers, but these campaigns have not resulted in an increase in reservations for the December 2024 holiday season. Official Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism figures showed a continued decline compared to December 2023 and December 2022.
