Istanbul nearly a ghost town as tourists stay away

The tourists are so scarce you can hear their footsteps clattering down the empty shopping street. Nearly a week after the deadly airport bombings, it is eerily quiet in Istanbul, reports AFP.
The magic of Turkey’s biggest city has been seducing visitors for centuries, from its array of historic mosques and palaces to its stunning views over the sparkling Bosphorus.
But for people working in the once-thriving tourist trade, Tuesday’s gun and suicide bomb spree represents one more nail in the coffin for an industry already reeling from a string of attacks this year. “It’s disastrous,” said Orhan Sonmez as he stood hopelessly offering tours of the Hagia Sophia, the cavernous former mosque and church that is now a museum.
“All my life I’ve been a tour guide. Most of us have come to a turning point where we don’t know if we can go on. It’s tragic.”
Restaurants sit empty in the Sultanahmet tourist district, and five-star hotel rooms can be booked for bargain prices.
In happier years the queues outside the Hagia Sophia might have stretched an hour or longer at this time of year—today you can walk straight in and share the place with just a smattering of other visitors.
To add to the ghost town feel, many Istanbulites have left the city for Bayram, a nine-day nationwide holiday that began Saturday. Nineteen foreigners were among the 45 people killed at Ataturk airport by suspected Islamic State jihadists, and analysts say the attack may have been a deliberate attempt to weaken the Turkish state by hitting its tourist industry.

Istanbul nearly a ghost town as tourists stay away

The tourists are so scarce you can hear their footsteps clattering down the empty shopping street. Nearly a week after the deadly airport bombings, it is eerily quiet in Istanbul, reports AFP. The magic of Turkeys biggest city has been seducing visitors for centuries, from its array of historic mosques and palaces to its stunning views over the sparkling Bosphorus. But for people working in the once-thriving tourist trade, Tuesdays gun and suicide bomb spree represents one more nail in the coffin for an industry already reeling from a string of attacks this year. Its disastrous, said Orhan Sonmez as he stood hopelessly offering tours of the Hagia Sophia, the cavernous former mosque and church that is now a museum. All my life Ive been a tour guide. Most of us have come to a turning point where we dont know if we can go on. Its tragic. Restaurants sit empty in the Sultanahmet tourist district, and five-star hotel rooms can be booked for bargain prices. In happier years the queues outside the Hagia Sophia might have stretched an hour or longer at this time of yeartoday you can walk straight in and share the place with just a smattering of other visitors. To add to the ghost town feel, many Istanbulites have left the city for Bayram, a nine-day nationwide holiday that began Saturday. Nineteen foreigners were among the 45 people killed at Ataturk airport by suspected Islamic State jihadists, and analysts say the attack may have been a deliberate attempt to weaken the Turkish state by hitting its tourist industry.