The famous Turkish resort was called “doomed” – we are talking about Bodrum. As local experts assured the Turkish press, if the situation at the resort with prices and level of service does not change, the resort will finally lose its competitive advantages compared to the Greek islands located opposite, where restaurants are twice as cheap, service is better, and nature is carefully preserved in an authentic form.
Meanwhile, in the Turkish resort, tourists began to be ashamed of the elementary – even rich Arab tourists, experts assure, are afraid to enter Bodrum restaurants because of the shocking prices. And for such a policy, the resort is doomed.
Historian, professor, and professional tourist guide Ilber Ortayly made this statement in the media, first of all comparing the prices in Turkey, especially in the Aegean region, with the prices on the Greek islands “opposite” the resort. And according to his estimates, on the Greek side, “there are much better restaurants and services for half the price.” “With the increase in transport accessibility and the appearance of speedboats, the Aegean coast of Turkey will suffer greatly, because there are much better restaurants on the opposite side, and the service costs half as much,” Ortayly said. Tourists are already voting with their wallets, he assured, and tourism revenues will not reach encouraging figures either at the end of this year or next year. Moreover, local, Turkish tourists are gradually migrating on vacation to the “other shore”, to Greece, due to prices and quality.
“Our prices this year don’t seem to have pleased anyone. Prices for restaurants and hotels on the coast of the Aegean Sea reach the “elite” level, but they lack comfort and quality. Today, people on the coast of the Aegean Sea are afraid to enter a restaurant, even rich Arab tourists. Beaches in Bodrum are paid for and very expensive. They say that the prices are higher than for a luxury vacation in Mykonos, which is considered an expensive resort in Greece,” the expert said.
He called care for nature and the absence of ruthless exploitation of the environment another strength. “The more you visit the shores of Lesbos and see how the green areas are protected, the more you understand the sadness of the Aegean region in Turkey, where olive trees are cut down for useless buildings, and the shores are blocked with crude structures,” he added.