I do wonder if the hassel factor as it relates to getting people in to bars and restaurants accounts for why more and more people go AI each year? Which presumably apartment & restaurant owners don't want.

Particularly British tourists who like Turkey but although we put up with it don't really want to be hassled during our two weeks in the sun.

Why don't the staff just realise that it's self defeating and is not going to help their cause in the long run?

One question which has not yet been asked is :

Does anyone actually like/enjoy the hassle?

I have no idea what happenned to my last post so forgive me if it's duplicated. I think we have to decide what we perceive as hassle??Someone saying hi how are you where are you from to me is being friendly not hassle. However if they then ask me into their restaurant and i say no thanks and they continue their spiel then i find that hassle. However others may feel differently.

Whilst waiting for friends in Side,the lad in the T shirt shop insisted we wait in his shop.I told him as it was a lovely sunny day and we had snow the day we left the UK,I would rather wait outside.He started to persist more and I told him the more he hassled people the more unlikely people would buy from him,and there were a lot of guests in the hotel we were staying in that would probably not leave the hotel because of the hassle.We still love Turkey and it would not put me off going.The hassle is nothing compared to Sharm!.

The thing about hassling is, it only has to work once, to be effective.

So its your first ever holiday to Turkey, you're walking down the street on your first day or so, and you get a frontman to a restaurant saying "hello, how are you, have you been here before?" etc etc. You think, how friendly, then when he invites you into his place for a drink, meal, whatever, if the food and service are okay, you will likely go back. The frontman doesn't have to use his speil on you again, as in a lot of cases the waiters, owner, barman etc will start chatting to you, you may end up considering them as friends, and you'll look them up when you return to the same resort.

Elaine

If you look on the troysan web page under "Marmaris news" you see a thread about 33 bars closed due to hasseling and see a different view on the hasseling form the youngsters that go to Marmaris.

as far as i am concerned there is far less hassle in turkey than there is in say tenerife ,or grand canary, they jump of motor bikes and scooters there and try to sell you time shares wth scratch cards , and if you say no you are all the so and so's under the sun and thats just the girls . Give me turkey any day. go there on the 3rd june and i am counting the days ,will need to stock up on t-shirts.

Bluepeterno1

I agree with bluepeterno1, we went to the Algarve ONCE. Never again, the timeshare touts drove me absolutely crazy!

No where in the world is perfect I know that, I think hassle is the bugbear with Turkey. It's just that with me (& quite a few other people judging by the posts on this), its counterproductive.

There were many things I wanted to look at, but when they wouldn't let me look & started shoving things in my face, I walked away no matter how cheap they were. With restaurants, I will choose where I like the look of or have had recommended to me & no man standing outside is ever going to make me come in if I don't want to. But it is annoying when you feel like you can't go a certain route because you know you are going to have someone following you down the street begging with & pleeding with you to eat in their restaurant, I always want to say, IF IT WERE THAT BL**DY GOOD, YOU WOULDN'T NEED TO DRAG PEOPLE IN THEY WOULD COME FROM WORD OF MOUTH.

I personally found it more intense in Turgutreis last week than even I can ignore, it won't stop me going back.

I think the point made about people going AI & staying in the AI resort so as not to be hassled in this way is a great point, again it's showing how counterproductive this is. They say they are loosing business to the AI's, but who wants to run a gauntlet of that everynight to pick a restaurant for dinner. Turkey is the ONLY place in the world I have ever gone AI & thinking about it, I will keep going AI unless things change, because I couldn't hack that every meal time!!!!

The hassle gets tiring after a while but it does not bother me that much.
I first politely say no then if they hound me some more i tell them straight.
Last year at our apartments the bar manager kept asking us why we went out every night when he provided entertainment, food and drinks, it really bothered him.
I found this to be very cheeky of him considering we were around the pool every day, having brekkie, lunch and drinks all day long,
so i told him so and he stopped asking us.
The one place i hate for the hassle is the bazaar in marmaris so i just avoid going in unless absolutely necessary.

i for one dont let it get to me,i just say no thankyou to frontmen,and as for haggling on markets i dont bother with the fakes either,been there done that so to say ,we go to marmaris /icmeler about 5 or 6 times a year and dont want cheap copies ,my children wouldnt wear them any way, we often take 6 pairs of new trainers each visit along with designer jeans for our friend ,who buys them from us ,thats says everything to me ,laptop and lacoste tracksuit for his sister next visit.some people like to go for the copies ,theres nothing wrong with that ,every one likes a bargin and i for 1 wouldnt condem them.we go for the weather and to see our friends,i have to admit to buying a fake handbag this visit though,only because my teen daughter has wanted it every visit,trouble was it was a bag that only 1 shop sold ,ive not seen them elsewere .in shape of a cottage so had to pay the price and yes i haggled ,if you want the goods then you have to haggle,im sure people prefer this to fixed price shops,

Am I the only person who doesn't do any shopping whilst on holiday?

Larger resorts are always going to have the hassle, I usually say that I've already eaten. It is annoying and I go to smaller resorts now where it isn't so prevalent. I don't have a problem with someone standing outside their restaurnt asking you to look at the menu. It's when they keep on and try to follow you and stuff that it bugs me beyond belief.

I have said on another thread that I find it worse to have street hawkers selling their jewellry and watches and things and trying to avoid them, moreso when bars allow them to go around tables trying to sell things. It just ruins things for me. But you don't get that in Turkey. I also found timeshare touts unbearable in Malta and Gran Canaria and downright rude. It's unnecessary.

Do most people find that as you settle in to your holiday and get a bit of a tan that the hassle declines as workers start to recognise you?

SandC - I agree with you.

We were in turkey so many times last season that many of the traders recognised us and stopped hassling, instead just saying a quick "Hi/Merhaba" as we passed.

Will be interesting to see what sort of hassle we go when we are there next

13 Days and Counting!

Sandc

Yes agreed it does die off, as they look for pinkies fresh of the plane,lol.

In turgutreis last week it was annoying at times. I know they had a bad season last year & its susposed to be slow this year, but hassle just makes me walk. There is a cafe/bar type place called The Cool Breeze, Jesus, you couldn't go past it without running a gauntlet of questions & it was on our way to town.
Firstly they would ask (tell) you to come in, I used the just eaten line. No good, "well come in just for a drink then", just had one I said, they would say OK see you on your way back, you will need a drink! They would only watch for you coming back & say you must be thirsty now after your walking & EXPECT you to come in. We never did, I will never go in a place that tells me I must go & spend my money in there.

The women in the market selling costume jewellery were often quite agressive in their approach. I didn't have this, but some of the ladies in the hotel, said they were literally putting bracelets & necklaces on them & were trying to stop them taking them off to give back, they just wanted the money. They would hold out their hand to insist you shake their hand "just friendly" & wouldn't let go & were trying to put braclets on you, this happened to me once, after that I let them act at being offended that I wouldn't take their hand, LOL.

The hasseling is all part of our holiday, and we miss it if we go to another country! Maybe we're just strange.......
It's all part of the Muslim custom, so why should they stop doing it just to satisfy foreigners? Why do all other nationalities have to conform to what the British think is the norm? When in Rome etc.

I'm only suggesting they conform to suit their market, as business people this makes perfect sense.
Many/most Brits DO NOT enjoy this hassle & many women travelling alone or with other women find it very intimadating. At best its annoying, at worst it can be very scary, there are many posts on here where the victim has been quite frightened by overly aggressive sales techniques.
They can carry on hassling & us who don't like it can give our business to the few that don't, he who laughs last.........

Sorry Tishtosh - hassling is not part of Muslim custom. If you walk around any resort in Turkey with a Turk, you don't get hassled. Turkish holidaymakers don't get hassled anywhere near as much as other nationalities on holiday in the resorts of Turkey - they get a polite "are you enjoying your holiday? Would you please take my brochure/menu? Thank you, enjoy your stay". They don't get chased the length of the establishment and pestered.

You're right, some people like it. And personally, I don't have a problem with the restaurants and bars verbally hassling - because I just walk on by. I can't be doing with a shop worker glued to my shoulder when I'm browsing though, and even if the shop was the only one in town that sold what I was interested in buying, if the shop staff are all over me like a rash, I'll just leave.

Kim I'm sure many Brits don't like the hassle - but from what I've seen, there are many who do fall for it, and many women on girly holidays who love it - they think its funny and flirty .

Elaine

Sandyc, i actually don't tend to go shopping either. I may join my daughter at the bazaar if she wants a new pair of jeans but i never have to worry about my suitcase being heavier on the way home
I don't have any problems with people chatting or asking you to look at the menu as long as they take no for answer. Last year we were constantly harrassed by the man outside the restaurant near the Adam and Eve. After the 3rd time of passing him he was shouting at us that we had eaten in the Adam and Eve before and why didn't we try his restaurant. We told him the reason we didn't go there was he was very rude harrassing us and shouting at us so we wouldn't be giving him our custom.
Elaine i do agree that once you've given in they've done their job and you tend to go back there. My husband and i have made several friends by being hassled

I found one way avoid hassle from restaurants if you want to look at menu, go in the day for a walk then you can stop have a look and say maybe later. It seems it is at night when you get more hassle from restaurants, that way you can make straight to where you want to eat at night. It worked for me every time!