Or perhaps the last few years were busy and it is getting back to normal, the british tourist is a fickle thing,

But I hear that many places around the med are quiet this year

I have a new theory
There are 2 types of British tourist who go to Turkey:

1. Those who go anywhere that is cheap and have now started going to Bulgaria etc.

2. Those who love Turkey!

I was in Icmeler in May will be back in 3 weeks and will be there twice next year and every year!

its going to be really busy in a week as all the people who was meant to be going cyprus have been transfered to turkey as there is a problem there so all flights are booked up now people are struggling to get a flight from UK. i was gone out last night and seen it was really busy.

I got confirmation this morning that our local schools will not authorise any term time holiday at all next year, this year they would only authorise time off in july, so i suspect that resorts will be even quieter in june and most of july, and that it may prove very hard to book a holiday for the last week of july or august. I bet there'll be some good bargains to be had though for those people travelling without children who can go earlier in the season. By the way, for anybody wondering, my childrens' education is my priority, I did take them out of school this year for 6 days this month, but only after having spoken to teachers who assured me that all exams were finished and that work for the year had actually all been completed by the end of June. As my eldest will be in year 10 next year we had already made the decision that any holidays will be taken in school holiday time.

Hi lilcheekymonkey,

Where have you got your information about a problem in Cyprus meaning that charter flights originally due for there are now coming to Turkey instead? I've looked on the FCO website, and all it says there is that there will be higher than usual traffic through the airports and seaports due to Cyprus being the main evacuee destination from the Lebanon. It says nothing about flights being diverted from anywhere to anywhere.
There is also nothing mentioned anywhere on this website about flights to Cyprus being cancelled or diverted - and if its supposed to be happening next week, and you know about it, presumably the holidaymakers on those flights would also know about it by now, and would be kicking up a noise (I know I would be - and I wouldn't necessarily be accepting Turkey as an alternative destination from my travel agent either).

I hope things do pick up in the Turkish resorts, but I don't really think its likely whole planeloads of Cyprus-bound holidaymakers are going to turn up at Dalaman or Bodrum in the next week.

Elaine

iam here on holiday and it is very quite. alot of people saying it is going to be a struggle to make a living not as mant tourists about which is a shame as it is very nice to holiday hopefully it picks up

is it still quiet?

Got back from Olu Deniz yesterday, and although it was our first time it did seem very quiet to us, we drank in various bars of an evening, between 9 & 11pm and most of them were half empty.

One bar on the seafront was over a shop and I saw hardly any customers go in the shop during the hour or so we were in the bar & I'm certain he didn't make any sales in that time.

When we left the village on trips etc from our coach/dolmus seats we could see lots of the smaller hotel's pool terraces, and there were more free sunbeds than taken ones.

Are all the flights to Turkey full or not? I'm going to Olu Deniz under 2 weeks hate it if was no one around can be quiet but not too quiet

However, went to my tour operators website and looked at avilability of hotel I am going to and there is no more availability neither is there any on the flights so...

Yes, it is very quiet here in Antalya. Not because there are no Tourist's, but because the majority are Russian and German who only stay ' All Inclusive ' I cannot see this changing in the foreseeable future.There are over 30 Flights per day from Russia and it's former Sattelite Country's and thats to Antalya alone.That's great for the people of The Russian Federation but not good for the small Turkish Business's that relied on The Tourist.Many of my Turkish Friends are struggling to exist and a good number have allready called it a day and closed.At the end of the day it's not good for the tourist from the UK or elsewhere who do not stay Aİ as your options are resticted.Personally I have no answer other than Goverment intervention.However, if that happened then you would get all the Politically correct saying what they normally say.No win situation !

Ian

My daughter is in Olu Deniz at the moment and says even though there are people around the resort the restaurants and bars are really quiet, even quieter than last October when she last went. I think it is because most of the bigger hotels in Olu Deniz are now all inclusive, we noticed when we were there in May that people were walking around the resort for an hour in the evening but were not going in the bars or restaurants, they all had their bands on showing they were all inclusive. It is such a shame for the resort that this is happening as it will spoil it if the bars and restaurants and smaller hotels have to shut. I know that when you have children it is easier to go all inclusive as all paid for before you go, but please try to go out sometimes to eat and spend some money in the local places as they need your custom.

Hi tim931

Returned from Dalaman on Friday after 2 weeks and both the flight out from Gatwick and the return flight were full, apart from a couple of xtra leg room seats that they walked throught the cabin trying to sell to people for 20 quid . (no takers).

We were on a Portland Holiday so should have been on a Thomsonfly plane but months before we went we were changed to a Mytravel flight.

I think although planes are flying full a lot of flight consolidations were put in place by tour operators early in the season so that they didn't fly half empty all summer.

Not sure about the AI thing in Olu D, there looked liked there were about 40 hotels, but I think only three are AI, the Belcekic Beach were we were was nearly full, but I don't think the Sun City or the OD resort were, we went out most night to bars, shop etc and it was quiet, it was busier up in Hisoranu (shops were cheaper up there as more competition) but we didn't really like it.

Hi,Ive booked my first holiday to Turkey on saturday and leave this coming sunday, and she was saying that the flights are avaliable lots of them around but the accomadtion is getting in really short supply!

as did alot of the other tour operators i spoke to on saturday all said they could find flights on the sunday but no accomodation not sure why this is ! ....

I was in Side in May/June and it was fairly quiet. Side usually attracts loads of Germans but many would have stayed at home for the World Cup.

I liked Side - it was my first time there.

I doubt if accomodation is really in short supply - except possibly in the very most popular places. There are plenty of cheap deals to be had and you only get those when there are empty hotels.

The way I see it it's easy to understand why it's quiet this year.

Turkish restauranteurs and others in the tourist business got complacent after a few great years where demand was high and in 2005 put their prices up by far more than the market would take. This year, granted, all the talk of bird flu, World Cup etc hasn't helped but prices have stabilised, and we are getting better VFM.

Hope the restaurant owners and others take note and don't get too greedy again.

Anyone agree/disagree?

You may be right, in principle, although it is more likely to be the Holiday Companies or the Hotels (or both) who have jacked the prices up.

I have never been advised of high restaurant prices before I booked, or didn't book, a holiday. If eating out is expensive you find out about it when you get there, not before.

I hope one day to be rich enough to book a holiday in Britain and I certainly cannot afford to eat out much here.

I have just returned from Marmaris on 19th July. It was my first time in Turkey and I thought that Meals and Drinks, (not shorts) were really cheap. Wish I had visited before when it seems to have been MUCH cheaper

hi all we are off to marmaris in 3 weeks ,please could anyone tell me if there is a way of getting to bodrum maybe by hydrofoil and then on to altinkum maybe by bus ? we would like to go to altinkum for a day to visit our turkish friends aswe normally go to altinkum but this year we are trying marmaris,we are travelling with children so would like to do the journey in the quickest way possible also any information on prices many thanks in advance