The increase in the permanent population of the resort at the expense of places for tourists may lead to the fact that Bodrum will cease to be a resort town – such a statement was made in Turkish media by the President of the Bodrum Chamber of Commerce Mahmut Kokadon, speaking at a panel meeting on tourism. “The number of beds in hotels has fallen below 25%, hotels are rapidly becoming residences for long-term lease, as a result of Bodrum risks losing its feature of a tourist city,” – said the businessman.
Thus, he stressed that the capacity of tourist destinations is constantly declining, while the influx of population is growing and exceeding the capacity of the city. “I would like to share some figures that are important for the future of Bodrum. Over the last 10 years, Bodrum has seen a significant increase in population. In 2012, the population of Bodrum was 99 thousand people, and our bed capacity was 55%. However, in 2022, 480,000 people already live in Bodrum. Our “bed capacity” has fallen below 25%. These figures show us that Bodrum has lost its tourist attraction,” said Kokadon.
If Bodrum wants to maintain its tourist attractiveness and not become an ordinary metropolis by the sea, it must make every effort not to lose its uniqueness – added the businessman. “We prefer to be a small tourist town, not a big city by the sea. We have before us the example of Kusadasi. There are no more boutique hotels left in Bodrum, the culture itself has disappeared. We need to protect our city, otherwise we will soon lose tourists,” Kokadon warned.
His assessment was supported by the President of the Bodrum Hotel Association Omer Farouk Dengiz. He expressed regret over the transformation of hotels into residences and called on business owners to pay more attention to the issue of tourist attractiveness of the city.
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