Lay My Hat

Hi - are any Turkey owners able to give a real perspective on how things are out in Turkey at the moment? My brother-in-law is due to be flying out with his family on holiday tomorrow but is worried about the unrest etc. I think he is going to the Bodrum area. Any views welcome!

Thanks

I am interested not from the perspective of heading there imminently but from the perspective of wondering how all this is impacting upon bookings etc. for our LMH Turkey owners. I have a good friend in Turkey - Turkish, non holiday rental owner but connected to the tourist industry - and he says that things are dire over there. However his comments are largely referencing the political situation as a secular Turk. Personally I think that if I had booked I'd still be going, and if I had not booked anything at all I might well be bargain hunting frankly. I would not be staying in Istanbul or flying into Istanbul though. The focus of unrest is centred on Istanbul and Ankara. This does not mean that the coastal tourist areas are immune, but the risk of unrest and domestic terrorist activity is lower. All destinations popular with western tourists - including the Spanish costas, the Algarve etc etc remain 'high risk' for ISIL terrorist acts.

Turkey was the subject on Jeremy Vine Radio 2 yesterday. Interesting comments from a guy who has recently sold his holiday home as he was noticing over the past few years significant changes in attitudes, reduced acces to alcohol and drinking times and the women's dress code, basically not the country it was.

I just thought I'd share a quick update - my brother-in-law is currently in Turkey and is having a great time. No sign of any problems whatsoever!

Sam V wrote:Turkey was the subject on Jeremy Vine Radio 2 yesterday. Interesting comments from a guy who has recently sold his holiday home as he was noticing over the past few years significant changes in attitudes, reduced acces to alcohol and drinking times and the women's dress code, basically not the country it was.

And the E.U is (now was...) considering them for membership. Crazy.....

Casscat wrote:I am interested not from the perspective of heading there imminently but from the perspective of wondering how all this is impacting upon bookings etc. for our LMH Turkey owners. I have a good friend in Turkey - Turkish, non holiday rental owner but connected to the tourist industry - and he says that things are dire over there. However his comments are largely referencing the political situation as a secular Turk. Personally I think that if I had booked I'd still be going, and if I had not booked anything at all I might well be bargain hunting frankly. I would not be staying in Istanbul or flying into Istanbul though. The focus of unrest is centred on Istanbul and Ankara. This does not mean that the coastal tourist areas are immune, but the risk of unrest and domestic terrorist activity is lower. All destinations popular with western tourists - including the Spanish costas, the Algarve etc etc remain 'high risk' for ISIL terrorist acts.

Generally speaking most business owners here that I speak to (holiday home owners, tourist agencies, yachting agencies, hotels etc) are around 50% down on last year.
If the local market wasn't so strong, things would be much worse.

Regarding EU entry...the whole thing is a red herring. The EU don't really want Turkey and I don't know of anyone here that wants to be in the EU.