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  4. Promising summer dreams come crashing down!

Promising summer dreams come crashing down!

Publishing Details

Assistance & Repatriation

1 Sep 2022
Bilge Bora
Featured in ITIJ 260 | September 2022
Sponsored by marm assistance

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marm assistance

This year was supposed to be the mother of all holiday seasons for people around the world, many of whom are tired and distressed and are in search of a relaxing holiday. All indicators, when carefully read, set the course in this direction at the beginning of 2022. However, this wasn’t meant to be

Expect the unexpected

The unexpected wave was the totally unwarranted war in Ukraine and its impact
on the travel and leisure industry. This has been felt significantly harder in Turkey, Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus, as these countries are favoured holiday destinations for Russian and Ukrainian travellers.
The economic sanctions created a devastating impact on the travel plans of
tourists from Russia, as their method of payment, transport, access to travel insurance policies, and foreign exchange solutions had all been effectively blocked. Then came the chaos of the travel risk management!

During the pandemic, trained and experienced employees had been fired in key travel hubs such as airports, harbours, train stations and even the highways, as is evidenced by the chaos seen for those trying to cross the English Channel.
The poor – and indeed, unsustainable – policy and lack of preparation for the 2022 tourism season led to major chaos in all travel hubs and stations. Regrettably, the lack of trained personnel and the reluctant attitude of not reemploying experienced staff in a short time frame has meant that for many people, the long-awaited holiday became a nightmare!

Furthermore, the necessary training and the completion of mandated flight hours in the aviation industry is another problem. There will inevitably be a stress factor
related to all these issues above, which may lead to a higher risk of incidents and accidents, and these customers will need special care and attention.
Just recently, a surge of Covid cases has appeared as another threat to the travel and tourism industry. Although for many, some Covid symptoms are not as lethal as in the initial stages, there is serious doubt over the failed vaccines and the efficacy of vaccination programmes. People continue to be very concerned about the spread of Covid and the threats it may cause.

Preparation results in smooth service provision
However, marm has taken the necessary steps ensure there are special Covid wards in our contracted hospitals, especially those in high tourism areas, as well as in other locations, with isolated rooms in certain cities. Special training to allow staff to interact successfully with international patients has been provided to the hotel staff in these destinations, either by the marm medical team or by our
partner hospitals in various districts.

Cause for concern
There is a need for special attention to be given to the rapidly increasing number of war and conflict-hungry groups in today’s societies. The increasing availability of weapons, which has come about as a result of the many conflicts globally, and the threat of terrorism, may inflict a fatal blow on an already stressed tourism and
leisure industry. 

ITIJ 260

This article originally appeared in

ITIJ 260 | September 2022

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Publishing Details

Assistance & Repatriation

1 Sep 2022

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Bilge Bora

After graduating from the Political Science and International Relations Department (Fr) at Marmara University in 1996, Bilge Bora had a master’s degree in both Business Administration and Marketing at Yeditepe University in 2001. Bora,who started her career at Koçbank in 1996, worked in the Sales and Retail Banking departments for many years. After working as Branch Manager, Regional Manager and Sales Manager at Türkiye Ekonomi Bankası, she worked as Sales Manager and Bancassurance Director at Akbank, Garanti BBVA and Türk Ekonomi Bankası. Working as the  Customer Communication Director at BNP Paribas Cardiff Pension as of May 2015, Bora resigned from this position on July 1, 2022, and became the General Manager of marm assistance.

Bilge Bora, who is fluent in both English and French, is also a Professional Coach, Mentor, and Internal Trainer.

ITIJ September 2022 Bilge Bora Marm Assistance
ITIJ

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