Has Calis lost its appeal?

[laffa]

  I agree with all of the above posts, Even the one about Laffa   After going to Spain this year for a 3 day break, I was amazed to see how much cheaper it was, and cheaoer and quicker to get to. Not that I want to start going there, but the prices are far cheaper for meals, drinks, even gifts. But dont you find we hear the same thing every year in Calis, about not being busy I have been listening to the same thing regularly now for the past 7 years at least. And yes people staying by the pool does account for alot of trade dying down, but another thing I have noticed is if for example you are coming off the beach at the best time of the day, 6.30ish, they are laying the tables for the evenings trade and you dont feel quite comfortable just asking for a coffee, I think Calis front would do well with a good coffee shop,and a clean beach.

[laffa]

P.S. forgot to say, Still love it.

[Scunner]

The debate certainly isn't about why people aren't coming to Turkey, more and fuller flights are coming into Dalaman, so it is why are they not coming to Calis. From there, when they come, where do they go. Not down to the seafront, that is for sure. There are a lot of answers in this thread. High prices, expensive sunbeds and all inclusive competition - believe me, Letoonia is packed out, they are occasionally OVERBOOKED.

One factor is that the huge concrete lump the Aries is closed. Even 500 rooms at 2 people per room is 1,000 people not milling around.

There is also an issue with nationalities - flights from Poland and other eastern European countries are regular now, and my understanding is that in general they don't spend much!

There is far too much choice for not enough people. This year saw the opening of a number of 'speciality' bars and restaurants that after a busy honeymoon period declined rapidly in popularity, joining the game scratching around for customers.

The paradox of Calis is that huge competition didn't result in lower prices, far from it. Maybe it will come, it is overdue.

One final point is my 'usual' one. You have to convince people that Turkey is not a land of desert, hassle and curly shoes. If you can, you have to convince people not to go all inclusive but to get out and discover the many delights of the Turkish menu. Then you have to hope they choose somewhere they have never heard of (Calis/Fethiye) over somewhere they have (Marmaris etc.).

Once you have done all that, you can sit reading CBF, shaking your head in disbelief at stories of people who tried to book a Calis hotel for their holiday - only to find that they didn't respond to any emails, and the phone just rang and rang.

I think Calis needs to raise its game.

[John H]

We are just back after 14 days in Calis. I did not think prices were excessive in the restaurants and bars. The food quality is very high and there was no pressure from staff to use their premises. Add to this the fact that in Calis I have never encountered any noisy/abusive drunks, I have never seen any form of disturbances, local transport is cheap, local excursions are cheap(even from some of the larger operators) fantastic views and weather and a very friendly obliging population. If the prices are considered high then I for one am willing to pay them for all the other advantages of Calis. Our first holiday in Turkey was to Marmaris(14 years ago) and it was 'hell on earth' as far as I was concerned and would never consider a revisit.

[gt]

i think dave(crabbit) has some of the right idea,people are feeling the prices are high,last year we were chatting to a local bar owner who was on about increasing his prices because no one was entering his establishment.
calis is a long way behind the likes of the established resorts, but is getting there,
they need to do there own thing become different everybody has the boom boom bars etc i for one like the peace and quite,but each to there own
hopefully when all the building work has finished the big cleanup ie rubbish/building materials etc wil be removed and the place will at least be presentable to the eye.

[K471DTE]

The condition of Caish Beach simply not good and I am afraid, it doesn't get better either when more shops and restaurants are opening and more road works etc done... NO investment at all toBeach which is one of the key attraction of the whole place... but on the other hand charges are going up bo return investment on the beach ? They kiled Katranci, they killed others...  If all restaurants and café's will not react soon we will use less and less calish beach (This is our approach)... but spend more time near our pool...

[Scunner]

quote:Originally posted by gt

we were chatting to a local bar owner who was on about increasing his prices because no one was entering his establishment

He'll be the first victim by the sound of it - what a master of economics he must be.

[busybee]

After our failed attempt to get to Katranchi beach (now I know why we were waiting opposite Halkins and apparently it comes out further by the roundabout) we decided to get the bus and have a beach day at Koca Calis. We had two beers and two sprites and free use of sun beds at Popeye's total of 9 Lira!! I know this establishment is not fancy like the bars on the prom but it was clean and the service was friendly.  The beach is far superior this end and you dont have to negotiate that awful shelf of rock when you get in.  I for one would happily pay for sunbeds on the prom if the money went to pay for a cleaner beach.

[laffa]

Did someone say they will Increase their prices, DUH.

[stoop]

Fethiye was definatley cheaper this year! First time I've experienced that!

Calis needs to look at its pricing. The restaurants, whilst not expensive, are more so that other areas.

A note of caution though - the TC flights we were on were full both ways - fortunatley 90% of the holidaymakers didn't go to Calis! I'm no snob but there were some right sights on the plane and they were not the sort that would raise the image of Calis.