As wildfires in Turkey’s south coast delivered a fresh blow to the struggling tourism sector, the country’s tourism minister appealed to local vacationers not to cancel their bookings in the fire-hit areas.

“We need to tell the whole world that we are returning to normal life quickly,” Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said after an Aug. 7 meeting with representatives of the tourism sector in Bodrum, a coastal town in the southern Aegean region that was a pre-pandemic hotspot for foreign tourists. 

“What the people here need is not only aid but normalization of life. The greatest help you can give them is to come here, have a meal, make your holiday plans in this region,” he said, in a subtle recognition that local rather than foreign tourists are needed to keep the ailing sector alive in 2021.

Turkey’s Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said Monday that all the fires had been put out except for two in the southwestern province of Mugla and praised the heroism of the firefighters. The minister has been under fire for the government’s lack of planning and equipment to fight the 240 fires that effected Turkey’s 47 provinces. Later the same day, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias announced that Turkey would send two helicopters to help Greek fires as the blazes in Turkey were now under control.