Tour operators told how to get money back for canceling New Year programs in Turkey

The decision to ban New Year's programs in hotels of the Turkish Interior Ministry was made on December 21. The reason for the introduction of restrictions was the deterioration of the epidemiological situation for the coronavirus. According to the decision of the authorities, on New Year's Eve all entertainment programs with music and dancing are prohibited in restaurants and hotels. In the evening after 22.00 any gathering of people in hotel restaurants and any music, even recorded, is illegal. Meanwhile, the work of hotels and restaurants at them on a special schedule is not prohibited.

“As of the evening of December 22, it was known that more than 50 hotels in Antalya had already canceled their New Year's programs with gala dinners and live music and informed their customers”, - atorus.ru reports.

Tour operators note that about 13 thousand Russian tourists gathered in Turkey to celebrate the New Year. Most of them intended to meet the celebration in Antalya hotels, where festive dinners and shows were planned for travelers. In 5* and 5* Deluxe hotels, gala dinners were included in the package tours in advance. In simpler hotels, participation in the New Year's program was paid separately. The cost of a gala dinner, depending on the class of the hotel, ranged from 25 to 205 euros, the average price per adult was 120-130 euros.

After the introduction of the Turkish Interior Ministry's circular, local hoteliers announced that they would refund the money for canceled show programs.

"Hotels in Turkey are refunding money for canceled New Year's dinners paid for", - PEGAS Touristik is quoted as saying.

All guests whose hotel dinners have been canceled will be automatically recalculated without additional requests. Some hotels, where customers have booked their own places, will refund their guests directly. Those who paid for the trip through the agency, the money will be refunded through the tour operator.

“The travel agency in which the tour was purchased, as usual, applies to the accounting department of the tour operator for a refund and the tour operator returns the overpaid funds to the agency. The agency, in turn, returns to the tourist”, - explained the PEGAS Touristik company.