You are right, it isn't just all inclusive hotels that are causing problems, prices have increased a lot over the past 10 years or so along with all holiday destinations in the med, but from the people we have spoken to it is a big part of the problem. Rising flight prices are also going to cause probems, flights have doubled in the last few years and I think they are only going to get more and more expensive.

I agree with Lady too that it is the smaller hotels which have coverted to AI over the last year or two rather than the big, out of the way places that are making the biggest impact. I don't know how things will go in the next few years, I am just hoping it doesn't change the face of the resorts for the worse.

Im sorry but I do wonder if this "A/i is damageing our business" excuse isnt wearing a bit thin and becoming somewhat boring . surely some of these establishments must take a fair proportion of the blame themselves by Hiking prices up so much in recent years and driving business away . But its never their fault is it

After all, the majority of A/Is are actually nowhere near the resorts. People that stay A/I in most cases have always done the same and visa versa if you prefer Self catering . Icmeler and marmaris I dont believe have too many A/Is anyway , at least not of a decent standard.

I could understand it in Olu where A/Is dominate the town itself.

lyn

As I said in my previous posts I explained about one of the businesses who was suffering, he never put his prices up stupidly high but he is losing business because of AI hotels. I also said it is not so much the big, away from it all hotels but the smaller ones in the resorts themselves which have sprung up over the last year or two that re the problem.

agreed Kedi . We were both obviously composing our posts at the same time

I think there is a dilema here though.

Some of us want the convenience of AI but don't actually want to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

That is why the Club Belceckic Beach was an ideal hotel for me and mine, a lovely hotel in a beautiful setting, with excellent food and staff and within a three minuite stroll of the little shops and bars of an evening or during the day if you needed any supplies. Dolmus to Hisoranu and Fethyie on the doorstep, so to speak.

I thought there were about 50 hotels in Olu Deniz and only three AI's though. So even then I would think there was still a market for some of the bars and restaurants.

Even at Lykia this year, we must have gone into Olu Deniz at least 10 times possibly more, providing endless fares for the Turkish taxi drivers, as we were a captive audience.

They were constantly working ferrying people back and forth morning, noon and night. I dont really know what more people expect us to do for the Turks. Perhaps they want me to set up a direct debit from my bank account.
There seemed to be plenty of rich Turks about as well, according to what the taxi drivers were saying. A few of them were staying at Lykia World.

If it stayed at 3 AI to 50 non AI there wouldn't be a problem. In Gumbet there used to be just a couple of AI hotels and the local bars and restaurants were doing great business, now every other hotel seems to be changing to AI and it really is beginning to cause problems. I just think there has been too many cheap, 2 or 3 star AI hotels opening recently, they all serve mediocre food and watered down drinks and lots of them don't even get good reviews. It is just changing the feel of the resort.

There are a lot more than three all inclusive hotels in Olu Deniz!

Me thinks this topic is going round in circles ,quite honestly i love turkey and the people ,but i go there for two weeks holiday to relax and enjoy it ,wether is is all inc or what it is we shoulod not be going there to worry about the econmy ,or the rights and wrongs of all inc hotels .If i am going to worry about economy and such then i will worry about my own country,which is heading for recession.

Bluepertrno1

Bluepertrno1 I totally agree. The way the economy of this country is going most people will not be able to afford holidays. We are going AI this year for the first time and I don't feel guilty about going AI, but maybe I should be feeling guilty about taking money out of Britain.

lady wrote:

There are a lot more than three all inclusive hotels in Olu Deniz!

Apart from the Belcekic Beach Club, The Club Sun City and the Olu Deniz Resort Hotel I dont know of any others. Might be one more that I dont know of, what are the others called Lady ? All the other BnB's look to small to become AI's.

To be honest when I was in Olu Deniz in July the place was buzzing of an evening, most of the decent looking restaurants in the high road looked pretty busy. We had trouble getting a seat in our favorite cocktail bar one night. As for other places such as Sugar Beach it was so crowded to be bordering on unpleasant at the weekend.

I'm afraid I cant comment on Gumbet, never been there and never will. Would rather try Side if I want AI or Akyaka if I want something a bit more authentic as it sounds lovely.

Must admitt Peter I am in agreement with you going round in circles here, I'm more worried about the UK economy than Turkeys at present, just come back from the supermarket and most of eastern europe and its children seemed to be in it, so soon I wont have to go abroad to experience other cultures.

When i first started going abroad when i was 18 there wasnt a problem.4 of you shared an apartment which worked out fairly cheap and food and drink was VERY cheap compared to england.

Come the time when i had kids and booked our first holiday abroad ,the kids were 6 & 3 and i was 34,well i couldnt believe the price of an apartment because of the under occupancy charges.
So we opted for a hotel with half board and i said to hubby we can still eat out if the food is no good because this package is cheaper than going sc.
Well the food was out of this world,we were really surprised because we had never been in a hotel before.
Now the problems start,kids make friends and dont want to leave the hotel at all at night cos they miss the show and hanging out with there mates,lol,eldest was only 6.
So we end up paying very expensive bar prices at the hotel because kids moan if we want to go to the local bars,this was in portanax in ibiza btw.
So the next holiday i book Allinc because if we have to be tied to the hotel we might as well get everything paid for beforehand and know we have enough.

And thats my story of why we go allinc

Oh and i forgot to say

like i said when i first started going abroad it was cheap compared to the uk... so why isnt it now... i mean we all have inflation so why doesnt it balance out?

in turkey this year we had an efes that cost about £2.25
when i got back to england i went into my local weatherspoon pub and got the same size for £1.89???

We first went to Turkey in 1996 - as a couple - stayed B & B in Icemeler - extremely cheap and couldn't spend our money.

Family expanded and we first went on holiday with our son to Spain - HB. Stayed in hotels as it was cheaper than appartments due to occupancy. If we did not like the food we could eat out. The cost of the holiday is always a factor - especially for a working family.

A friend reccomended a AI holiday resort in Spain and as it was only slightly dearer than the HB - what did we have to lose? Drinks already included and all meals. Same thoughts applied - if we didin't like what was on offer we could try a local restaurant and bar - we did and will always do so. We have always viisted local attractions etc. The economics of the holiday coupled with a growing family worked in favour of AI when we experienced it.

Then, someone reccomended AI in Turkey. When we looked at what we could afford in Turkey for the same money as Spain then we rejoined our love affair with Turkey. I have posted earlier in this thread that we don't stay in the AI hotel and do support local business/opertors. However that is because we want to experience a beautiful country and a trip on a Dolmus is always an experience!!!!! The prices in Antalya this year were only slightly cheaper than home

I don't want to sound nationalist but I don't believe that the problem lies with UK tourists. As the number of East european travellers increase - the newly rich will travel abroad and they seems to want to not spend outside of the AI resort/hotel.

I beleive that the Turkish holiday market will have to be careful not to price itself out of a growing following.

nowadays the way things are going up in price it's nice when your on holiday whether it's h/b f/b or a/l that you can just get dressed and go for your meals and not have to watch what it's costing as it's paid for

To be honest nowadays we couldnt afford to go on hols if it wasnt for allinc.... all me and hubby want is a chance to do nothing for 2 weeks as we both have stressful jobs but not particually well paid.We both read about 3 books each and chill out

This topic is beginning to sound like the jeremy kyle show ,there are people on it who seem to think they have to justify why they stay in all inc ,nobody needs to justify where or what they do on holiday ,we all spend money in turkey one way and another ,which contributes to the turkish economy.The heading here is the big all inclusive problem ,would someone please explain to me what this big problem is , do away with the big all inclusive hotels and there will be hundreds out of work how will that help the turkish economy ,and please dont tell ne that they would still need as much staff to run others hotels such as half board and places such like,because it is a well known fact that a/i hotels employ more staff on a regular basis.

Bluepeterno1

Well said Bluepetrno1
I gave my opionion , and that was that.

THE END>

GINK
Well not Quite

Take a look at http://www.oludeniz.tv/
It is not always busy !!!!!!
But IT Looks Like it is getting its fair trade of the AI tourists,

Would this Bar, be >>>> OPEN or CLOSED.?????
Is this the fault of the AI tourist in Turkey????

We all have different choices,reasons . AND DREAMS Iam just happy we dont have the same views!!! Cause this would be pointless.,
LOL

HONESTLY

ALL the best.
GINK

The prices in Antalya this year were only slightly cheaper than home

Becky67...where did you stay in Antalya ????? I live here and I do not find the prices high but it depends on where you go...certainly the more touristic areas or the resort area will be higher as they cater to tourists..but I have had a meal for 2 in the old part of Antalya for 36 liras...1 salad , 2 chiken kebabs, 2 bottles of efes bira, and two coffees...all for 36 liras..which think as a resident of Turkey and living here for 11 yrs..very normal for pricing...and this was over looking the marina...

Ok..I really do not want to keep going on this but..another fine example...the build up of the 5 star all-inclusives have majorly affected the buisnesses ( shops, restaurants, bars etc ) in the old part of the city..( Kaleiçi ) I have walked around there many times and it never seems that busy..also the small pensions, boutique hotel owners also complain about the lack of buisness...

why because they have built up Antalya with too many hotels...( and still building ) at one time there were only a handful of large 4 or 5 star hotels in Antalya ..even when I first moved here ..and travel to this area was more independant..

At about 10 yrs ago these big hotels offered casino gambling...therefore making a profit..but hey then the government banned gambling in turkey so these hotels that might have only been 60 % full..had to come up with another idea to get buisness...so in came the All-inclusive package holidays..now they might be 100% full but working only with package tours and travel companies...

ok the offer jobs for some but take business away from others...ie the small boutique hotels as such in the old..there is no way that a small buisness owner of say 20 rooms can compete with a large hotel at say over 500 rooms ( if not more )

The building of these hotels never see to stop..for example...The owner of the Chelsea football team Roman Abramovich ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Abramovich ) is building another ornate monstrosity of a resort in the Kundu area of Antalya..

So many other factors also come into play....the rising costs of flights..yes !!!! the exchange rate is very low...another problem..but I still maintain..that if you look to the smaller more traditional resorts or villages in Turkey you will still find cheaper prices for your holidays..granted that the airlines dont jack up there flight cost any higher..

Anways enough said..and forget the rant this morning...to each their own and enjoy your holidays wherever they maybe...