After getting used to Turkey as being one of the best value money for destinations around for the last couple of years, you might be surprised by not only prices this year but availability as well.
At the beginning of the year the appeal of Turkey dropped as some people with little geographic sense decided it was too close to some of the countries in the Middle East and North Africa so they didn’t book. Since then others who might have booked to Egypt, Tunisia and Syria have opted for Turkey as it offers a combination of weather, heritage, beaches and stability. The result has been that some resorts are almost sold out and the bargains that we used to know are not as great as they were.
Last year 28.5 million visitors came to Turkey. This year the numbers for the first three months of the year were up by 15%. Years ago, a target of 30 million visitors by 2023 was set but it seems unbelievable that this target won’t be reached this year. It has leapfrogged many countries and now stands in the top 10 countries for tourism. So successful has it become that the tourism minister has redefined the goals raising it to 50 million tourists per annum. So there is more hotel building, more attractions and the development of more types of holiday on offer such as golf, spas, and trekking as well as appealing to religion tourism since Turkey offers sites for Christians and Muslims. But as the hotels open, they fill up. In the beach resorts, substantial building projects are under way.
So if you are still thinking of Turkey for the summer break, you might want to check prices and resorts sooner rather than later and then make a decision rather than leaving it to the last moment as many have done in the last few years. This year, there may not be much left at the last minute.