Turkish tourism body seeks to block foreign platforms

• Travel association launches legal action
• Targets 10 foreign booking platforms
• Claims they pose risk to consumer rights

Turkey’s travel association has launched legal action to have 10 leading foreign online booking and service platforms banned from the Turkish marketplace, alleging they represent unfair competition for local tourism agencies. 

Among the platforms named in the lawsuit opened by the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (Türsab) are Airbnb, GetYourGuide, Viator and Expedia. 

In its suit, the association calls for the court to ban the platforms from operating in Turkey as they do not hold licences or pay taxes in the domestic market, allowing them to trade unfairly and disadvantage local travel agencies. 

Türsab also claims having unlicensed platforms in the marketplace represents a risk to consumer rights, as clients do not have recourse to complain to registered operators in the event of unsatisfactory service. 

Turkish law says that only registered travel agencies are authorised to conduct sales, marketing promotion and booking services in the local market.

However, while not authorised, the use of foreign-based bookings platforms is widespread, especially among overseas visitors to Turkey. 

Announcing the legal action on January 27, Türsab president Firuz Bağlıkaya said that despite not being registered in Turkey, the foreign platforms were offering services that could only be provided by licensed travel agencies. 

“We have no problem with these companies,” he said, according to Bloomberg. “However, they need to establish agencies in Turkey and pay taxes, just like us. We cannot allow tax-free and unfair competition.”

Alternative route

However, not all in the tourism industry believe the route being taken by Türsab is the path to follow.

Rather than resort to legal action, authorities should try and find a way to accommodate foreign platforms while regulating their place in the market, according to Erdoğan Altındiş, owner of Manzara Istanbul, a short-term property rentals firm with more than 50 apartments in its portfolio.

“This is a negative move, in this day and age one does not build barriers,” he told AGBI. “How can one block the digital world? People will always find a way.”

Instead of moving to shut access to the platforms, there should be a process of consultation and finding a solution, said Altındiş, who has worked in the travel rental sector for more than 20 years. 

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It is not the first time that Türsab has gone to court to block foreign players from the domestic market. 

In 2017, Türsab won a case against the online tourism services firm Booking.com that saw it excluded from the Turkish market, after a court ruled the company did not meet the requirements to be a licensed travel agency. 

The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Turkey rose to 50 million during the first 11 months of 2025, an increase of just 0.03 percent year on year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism last month.