Bodrum risks losing its throne
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Betül Çal
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 25, 2009 00:00
ANTALYA - Easily one of the most popular tourism destinations in Turkey, Bodrum may be losing its position as a visitor magnet, according to views from various names in the industry. The bells may toll for the Muğla district due to a problem of quality and a lack of help from state.
Bodrum's tourism industry faces yet another threat in addition to a serious decrease in the number of tourists in the first five months of the year.
Edinburgh based Scot Travel, which plays a key role in regional tourism by bringing more than 60,000 tourists, mostly Scottish, to Bodrum annually, has announced bankruptcy. Although this endangers the tourism potential of the peninsula, most authorities say that Bodrum tourism faces more serious problems such as infrastructure, unsuccessful management and local resistance to new investments and developments.
Speaking to Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Serdar Karcılıoğlu, chairman of Bodrum Professional Hotel Managers Association, said Scot Travel’s bankruptcy will negatively affect Bodrum tourism, which depends on tourists from the UK, especially in this economic crisis during which tourism figures are already at a decline compared to last year’s figures.
However, Karcılıoğlu highlighted that there are even more serious dangers for Bodrum that need urgent consideration in order to keep the peninsula a tourism destination.
"As the actors who direct the world tourism, the tour operators do not see Bodrum as a destination any more. This stems from the fact that the peninsula lacks the necessary infrastructure, direct flights and bed capacity to handle large-scale tourism," Karcılıoğlu said, adding that with a 70,000-bed capacity, only 20,000 beds are high quality.
Quality problem
Voicing similar opinions to Karcılıoğlu, Nasih Demir, former chairman of Bodrum Executive Committee of the Turkish Association of Travel Agents, or TÜRSAB, said that the quality problem has brought Bodrum tourism almost to an end. Highlighting that the decrease in the Dutch market has amounted to a 50 percent decrease, Demir added that unless they could achieve sustainability in tourism with some drastic changes, it would be impossible to maintain Bodrum as a tourist destination.
On the other hand, Mehmet Kocadon, Bodrum mayor and chairman of Bodrum Peninsula Publicity Foundation, disagreed that the problem with Bodrum tourism was a quality problem. He said that what differentiates Bodrum tourism is neither the government supported investments nor the five-star hotels, but rather the smaller scale guest houses, local investments and bed-and-breakfast style motels.
"Contrary to Antalya, which is made a ’paradise’ by the state’s hand, today’s Bodrum is a result of individual small investments, which may not be ’professionalism’, a concept pertaining to the giant hotel investments. Therefore we need to look at Bodrum and Bodrum tourism from a different angle."
Urgent need
Differing from Kocadon, Karcılıoğlu said that there is an urgent need for people to overcome their resistance to new investments and developments and the shallow belief that tourism is the only secure industry. "While the rest of the tourism sector is discussing extending tourism into a year long industry, we, as Bodrum tourism authorities, are still struggling to develop the summer tourism in the region. With an 8,000-bed capacity for winter tourism, only 1,500 beds are open. In the Antalya region, they have a 36,000-bed capacity," Karcılıoğlu added.
Although he admitted that the Bodrum region cannot turn its potential into a sustainable advantage during the winter, Kocadon linked this to the lack of publicity.
"I think that advertising has proved to be inadequate for the peninsula so far. Of course, this has a direct affect on the number of tourists visiting Bodrum; however this does not mean that Bodrum tourism has come to an end or is suffering from life threatening problems," he added.
Edinburgh based Scot Travel, which plays a key role in regional tourism by bringing more than 60,000 tourists, mostly Scottish, to Bodrum annually, has announced bankruptcy. Although this endangers the tourism potential of the peninsula, most authorities say that Bodrum tourism faces more serious problems such as infrastructure, unsuccessful management and local resistance to new investments and developments.
Speaking to Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Serdar Karcılıoğlu, chairman of Bodrum Professional Hotel Managers Association, said Scot Travel’s bankruptcy will negatively affect Bodrum tourism, which depends on tourists from the UK, especially in this economic crisis during which tourism figures are already at a decline compared to last year’s figures.
However, Karcılıoğlu highlighted that there are even more serious dangers for Bodrum that need urgent consideration in order to keep the peninsula a tourism destination.
"As the actors who direct the world tourism, the tour operators do not see Bodrum as a destination any more. This stems from the fact that the peninsula lacks the necessary infrastructure, direct flights and bed capacity to handle large-scale tourism," Karcılıoğlu said, adding that with a 70,000-bed capacity, only 20,000 beds are high quality.
Quality problem
Voicing similar opinions to Karcılıoğlu, Nasih Demir, former chairman of Bodrum Executive Committee of the Turkish Association of Travel Agents, or TÜRSAB, said that the quality problem has brought Bodrum tourism almost to an end. Highlighting that the decrease in the Dutch market has amounted to a 50 percent decrease, Demir added that unless they could achieve sustainability in tourism with some drastic changes, it would be impossible to maintain Bodrum as a tourist destination.
On the other hand, Mehmet Kocadon, Bodrum mayor and chairman of Bodrum Peninsula Publicity Foundation, disagreed that the problem with Bodrum tourism was a quality problem. He said that what differentiates Bodrum tourism is neither the government supported investments nor the five-star hotels, but rather the smaller scale guest houses, local investments and bed-and-breakfast style motels.
"Contrary to Antalya, which is made a ’paradise’ by the state’s hand, today’s Bodrum is a result of individual small investments, which may not be ’professionalism’, a concept pertaining to the giant hotel investments. Therefore we need to look at Bodrum and Bodrum tourism from a different angle."
Urgent need
Differing from Kocadon, Karcılıoğlu said that there is an urgent need for people to overcome their resistance to new investments and developments and the shallow belief that tourism is the only secure industry. "While the rest of the tourism sector is discussing extending tourism into a year long industry, we, as Bodrum tourism authorities, are still struggling to develop the summer tourism in the region. With an 8,000-bed capacity for winter tourism, only 1,500 beds are open. In the Antalya region, they have a 36,000-bed capacity," Karcılıoğlu added.
Although he admitted that the Bodrum region cannot turn its potential into a sustainable advantage during the winter, Kocadon linked this to the lack of publicity.
"I think that advertising has proved to be inadequate for the peninsula so far. Of course, this has a direct affect on the number of tourists visiting Bodrum; however this does not mean that Bodrum tourism has come to an end or is suffering from life threatening problems," he added.