Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Calis Beach Forum => Calis Beach Questions and Information => Topic started by: Scunner on May 15, 2016, 10:37:39 AM
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After much concern about a bad season for Turkey's resorts looming, things seemed to disprove that - reports of full planes, the Sunday market heaving with tourists on a recent Sunday.
But now it appears from several reports that we have nearly deserted hotels, sparsely filled restaurants and concerned locals.
Are things looking grim?
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Full planes - some yes but most seem to be going to Marmaris.
Markets busy - yes but most brits that we have met are staying in their own or rented places nearby.
Have been along Çalış front a few times recently and very quiet.
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Condor has deleted 80% of the flights from DUS and FRA to Dalaman. No wonder if the rest of the flights are booked well ;-)
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Good point St. Pauli - like in the UK when Thomas Cook cancel one flight and move everyone to a different one. Only a full flight that would have been two half empty flights.
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I arrived Friday evening , flew from gatwick with monarch who originally had 2 flights scheduled Friday but the evening one was cancelled a few weeks ago , my flight was probably three quarters full, got to Calis Friday evening and it seemed very quiet, Saturday was no different very few people about and in the evening not many restaurants had more than a few tables occupied and some had hardly any tables occupied , probably not helped by the rain and that's same story today, been lashing it down most of the day. I'm staying at the rosary beach hotel and at guess would think they probably have about a dozen or so rooms occupied. I really hope it picks up for all these poor people trying to make a living
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School holiday end of May will give clearer picture of how season will be.
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We went with Easyjet four weeks ago flight was full, hubby came home befire me as he had work and im now retired and loving it! His E.jet flight was full he said coming back...i flew back with Monarch and there were max 15 passengers which was fab for comfort but not good for Turkey! I do hope it took a plane load of holiday makers outwards...
Went to the lovely Gunisik twice first time our foursome and one other couple arrived second time just me and my friend.
Though it was only really season just starting up.
Went to Hisaronu one day and that seemed like it was kind of coming to life but never seems busy during the daytime anyway to us...
Stayed at Manas Park one night (love their swimming pool sort of heart shape) very empty there one or two Turkish families staying there, stayed at Jiva Beach two nights originally booked for one but booked a second night as loved it sooo much, not normally our thing all inclusive but there was just something about the place we both loved, now that was weird because during the day it never looked that busy but at meal times it was like where have all these people come from!only had a brief trip to Sunday market as i ripped my trewsers on bending down ( and i mean ripped!) one of the old Turkish mamas took the time to pull at my trewsers to let me know this and point to my big bum after i bent to gather up my shopping so stopped off to get some new ones and quickly look for a tshirt my son had asked me to get, looked pretty empty to me few Brits mainly Turks getting their fruit and veg....One for the lady members of CBF Eddies jewellery shop has some stunning bits in treated myself to a few pendants has to be done and the handbag shop on same side of road has some gorgeous bags in think they are all priced and mainly a tenner each...really hope the busineeses do well and things start to buck up for everyone, such a shame as still totally love the place ( apart from when the weather is grim but thats me anywhere in this world) just over two weeks time i will be back ears permitting as have been plauged by poxy vertigo for the last six days now...
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we probably wont see that much change this year, places will appear quiet but next year they may not of been able to ride the wave.
I'm also expecting a decline in flight availabilty for 2017.
Savoyboy mentioned the school holiday at the end of the month, we were out that week last year as normal and it was still very quiet not many kids around at all, since the fines for taking the kids out of school have been introduced I dont think that many parents bother for a week (whitsun week is often more exspensive than a week in Aug).
markar
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aircraft may be full right now but not necessarily full of people who booked that particular flight. The operators are rationalising flights, ie cancelling some & putting people who had booked them onto other flights.
The main indicator will be how full the resorts & their hotels and restaurants are. We have been told by Monarch that we will now be flying back from Dalaman on an aircraft operated by Smartlynx of Latvia. This no doubt saves Monarch a few quid but depending on how well it goes we may choose not to book with Monarch next year. Yes I know that Monarch have had their problems lately but they should remain Monarch's not their loyal customers.
How full do people think Calis is for this time of year?
... and by the way, is the ice cream man outside the Mangal yet?
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Yes ice cream man outside mangals but now it gets a bit confusing there are two mangals, where the original mangals was is now mangal house and that has the ice cream man and it's all been refurbished, looks very nice but not been in yet so can't comment on food . Opposite where B52 was is now the original mangal , not tried there either
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thanks stuart1955, nice to know I can get my ice cream fix in a few weeks. Would you say that the resort is comparatively quiet for this time of year or 'business as usual'?
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Seems very quiet to me and I usually come here at this time of the year
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Article in the `Guardian` recently said Spain and the Balearic islands are and will be this season ` bursting at the seems` with brit holiday makers.. Spain and Greece are going to capitalise on the state of terrorism problems right now with Turkey , Egypt and Tunisia
As for Hisaronu.. its quiet right now, but these last few years during early May its always quiet... the real test is July and August when families tradionally holiday...... here right now in Hisaronu its mainly property owners and older regular visitors.... the popular bars , restaurants seem their normal early May... but the less popular places possibly quieter than normal.... and far too many of them .. many will fold this season .
Hisaronu has been slowly dying for years.. this year its demise may be accelerated sadly
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After much concern about a bad season for Turkey's resorts looming, things seemed to disprove that - reports of full planes, the Sunday market heaving with tourists on a recent Sunday.
But now it appears from several reports that we have nearly deserted hotels, sparsely filled restaurants and concerned locals.
Are things looking grim?
Not to worry Scunner there will be plenty of Efes left for when you come over.
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That's great. I'm more concerned that there are some bars and restaurants to sell it to me.
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".i flew back with Monarch and there were max 15 passengers which was fab for comfort but not good for Turkey! I do hope it took a plane load of holiday makers outwards..."
I think Monarch only started flying out last week from most airports - hence the flights back would be pretty empty I think.
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I flew in with monarch 2weeks ago the flight was a third empty,its dead here in calis very few people about,on friday morning i drove to dacta for 2 nights the place was lovely but little or no tourists at 10 oclock it was a ghost town.I left there and headed to marmaris and ichmeler again deathly quite just hundreds,and hundreds of empty sun beds hardly a soul about its going to be a very tough year for turkey im sorry to say,infact if it gets any worse ill be on my way sooner than latter from my six week stay,very sad.
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It seems very quiet this year and I have noticed how empty places are at night even in Fethiye. But what I find strange is that Booking .com state that hotels are filling up fast here and Oludenize.
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Arrived yesterday,missus has been here a week,slightly quieter than this time last year but not dead,ticking over I would say.Lets see how the next couple of weeks goes
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I fly in three hours time and according to Monarch, there are only six seats left on the flight. If you do a booking, the whole of the back of the plane is available to book a seat. We shall see.
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Arrived yesterday,missus has been here a week,slightly quieter than this time last year but not dead,ticking over I would say.Lets see how the next couple of weeks goess
Slightly quiet Steve!!!! Nichola has put some photo,s on of the prom last night. 7 restaurants georges,surkul1 and 2, Bambu, café soul, varil, and aroma, 7 restaurants,17 customers. wonder how many the Bambu would have had if it hadn't been happy hour. sad times ahead methinks. :(.
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I fly in three hours time and according to Monarch, there are only six seats left on the flight. If you do a booking, the whole of the back of the plane is available to book a seat. We shall see.
Didn't it say "only 6 seats left at this price" rather than only 6 seats left?
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Over the past few days i have been driving across turkey stoping at many resorts Datca,Marmariss,Ichmeler,Seragemi,and i can assure you its almost dead everywhere miles of empty sun beds on the beaches bars desperate for your custom.Today i went to sarsala beach at dalaman and it was the most people that i have seen on a beach lots of people but a frightening drive down to the beach a lovely place to visit.
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I know it's not Calis but I looked at the Buzz Bar webcam Olu Deniz last night at 12.30 at the place was packed
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Ive been looking at the Buzz Bar daily it's a good indicator, bit worrying how really quiet it's been. Empty some nights. It's picked up a bit this week but I've only seen 2-3 busy nights this month but even then it's still not as packed as it usually is now.
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I booked my flights with easyjet in April for £112 return from Bristol. They've now gone up to £170 and looking at the seats it's more than half empty! I'd have thought they would have kept the low costs to get bums on seats rather than the other way round. Just glad I booked early but it's not going to help Calis tourists trade. Hope it picks up - nothing and no one is going to stop me visiting Turkey I love it too much!
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Some flight prices are ridiculous ,I have found packages much cheaper than a flight only, worth checking this out first, icelolly.com has some good deals
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Airlines profiteering at the expense of passengers? Surely not...
The greedy buggers are getting $6,000 from the Ministry of Tourism for every flight into Turkey. Other than some very cheap THY prices, I haven't seen much evidence of the six grand being passed on to passengers.
JF
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I was nosing around the EasyJet website last night to see if any fares had dropped in price (to get another voucher!) Several of their flights from Gatwick to Dalaman next week are sold out. Better times ahead perhaps?
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I think you might expect that next week Madmart cos it is the start of the normally busy/busier half term (and whitsun bank holiday) period. See that Whitsun, you won't catch me using that Spring Bank Holiday term .... oophps just did :-[ ;) ;D ;D
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last year my apartment was basically fully booked . This year I have 1 week booked in September I even offered my apartment to a friend for £80 for a week and still refused not a great year, this will be a struggle :(
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We ate in the Nil last night and it was chockablock! Mind you it was quiz night.
Quite a few wandering up and down the prom but as we haven't been here this early before it's hard for us to gauge things.
Steady is a word I'd use. Fethiye prom was quite busy Weds lunchtime. We ate at Genis and were fairly busy with mostly British customers.
I would expect half term to be much busier but we will see.
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In Fethiye centrum today and there seemed to be lots of tourists. But I suspect they'd come to town as the weather was definitely not the pool-side or beach kind today.
Still, people were carrying bags of purchases and when we lunched in Geniş it too had all the tables undercover occupied. Plenty of tourists strolling the harbour side.
Hisaronu reasonably busy too this afternoon although every trader I have spoken to very recently in the last couple of days has definitely now remarked on the season being far less busy than last year.
Not been to Çalış for a while so unable to comment there (would have been there today for a boat trip on Ali's boat but that was cancelled this morning because of the rubbish weather).
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Hisaronu only busy in the centre area.... farther out you go, away from the centre.. in each direction...much quieter than last year .... Hisaronu / Ovacik / Fethiye Road very quiet at night .. but then .. too many restaurants / bars anyway
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Sunday market and Fethiye harbour all busy yesterday
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Sunday market and Tuesday market always busy Steve, but you will probably find they are more busy with Turks than Tourists. ;)
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not too bad yesterday mate. quite a few tourists there.
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Last night we went to Öiüdeniz and it was packed, restaurants full, bars with dancing men on the bar, full, bars without dancing men on the bar, full, streets very busy...
Some shops were doing well, particularly the ones I went into ;)
It may have been a slow start in Öiü but if last night is anything to go by it looks set for a great season :)
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The BBC has reported that UK bookings to Turkey are 30% down. I'm not sure that is a large enough drop to be visible by walking along Calis prom or wandering around the weekly market.
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The BBC has reported that UK bookings to Turkey are 30% down.
If you'd said you'd read it in the Daily Mail I'd have given it some credence. I just think the BBC are stirring it.
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Have just returned from a lovely day out on Ali Kavak's boat.
It isn't difficult to see why his trips are so popular. The lunch was exceptional.
And despite what appears to be a slow start to the season for some, Ali has only 6 days free to book his boat until the close of the season. That is also exceptional.
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If you'd said you'd read it in the Daily Mail I'd have given it some credence.
You would find the notion that I might read the DM credible? You're away with the fairies!
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Guven's pretty busy this afternoon.
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We were at Guvans yesterday and they did have a good crowd.It seemed to be mostly regulars,not many new faces.
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And despite what appears to be a slow start to the season for some, Ali has only 6 days free to book his boat until the close of the season. That is also exceptional.
Yes that does seem exceptional, as there appears to be a lot more boats IN at Calis than OUT in the last couple of weeks. We went out last week with a Fethiye boat (picked us up on the jetty near Sat) great day with the family, usual fantastic food, but Erhan (ex Calis co-op captain) reported that things were quiet in Fethiye too.
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When the demand is low those that excell will succeed 8)
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Past two days it seems to be busier,bar owners that I know don't seem too worried and say they are slightly down but not the 30% quoted in some places.I agree with Nichola about those who excel,it's easy to make money when demand is high but difficult when not so if you are top of your game you should be ok
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I fly in three hours time and according to Monarch, there are only six seats left on the flight. If you do a booking, the whole of the back of the plane is available to book a seat. We shall see.
Didn't it say "only 6 seats left at this price" rather than only 6 seats left?
It did actually say only 6 seats left - I had spotted that. When I got on the plane, it really was jam packed full with not a seat to be had. The same on the return flight - full.
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We arrived 2 weeks ago, never seen the queues for the Customs desks so big, the hall was packed everyone in orderly queues, then a Russian plane arrived and all the Russians started there own queue next to us and just started to push in. Took us 35 minutes to clear Customs. However, most of the passengers where going to Marmaris.
Calis, in the last two weeks as been so quiet, lots of restaurants with many empty tables. We spoke to one restauant owner this week who said he thought if this went on, many of the restaurants in Calis would close. He even said he was worried for his own future as his place was loosing money.
Cannot remember a time when Bella Mamas was half full and only us and one other table with people on it at 9.30pm. Even Meeting Point was half full and they are always busy, by 9.45pm when we left, we were the last customers. We were in George's one night and they did have a couple of empty tables, but Serkul next door was empty and Rushie was looking worried. Many restauants seem to be closing early. Even the market is very quiet. We popped in last Sunday at 3.00pm to get some supplies and by the time we left about 30 minutes later we noticed some bag and clothes stalls packing up.
I hope the situation picks up next month as it is worrying to think that some businesses may go to the wall.
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Mrs. Harvey shopping for just 30 minutes? Not sure if I believe that.
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And obviously not interested in the point she is trying to make Ally. :( which she is right about in my opinion. ;)
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Ally, I shop for food in the market and it only takes about 30 minutes. I am not interested in fake bags or tee shirts. I just love all the fruit, veg, eggs, yoghurt, strawberries, cherries, cheese etc., My serious shopping is in Fethiye and also today at the Craft Fair whch I loved and bought lots of things. I really enjoyed my time there. I hope the 3C's made a lot of money.
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There were some really nice items Jacqui .Just wished we could have taken some home, but 22kls does not allow much scope.
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Things have picked up these past few days,last night in the bars etc it looked almost back to normal.Those staff I spoke to were pleased with the up turn,putting it down to half term
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Looking at the webcams for oludeniz, there are quite a few about now on the beach.
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Really pleased things look to be picking up, it was so quiet when we were there first two weeks of this month. Hope it continues, 8)
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I suspect (and hope) that the effect of the drastic downturn in tourism may be felt less in Fethiye/Calis than in many other areas - I may be talking bollox, but this is how I see it.
The biggest "single nationality" loss to tourism so far has been from Russia. Fethiye is not a traditional Russian destination due to the fewer number of AI hotels in comparison to other areas.
The other large group that will be missing is the "first timers" to Turkey who are simply chasing the sun and cheap flight/accom deals. Again, Fethiye isn't a prime destination for this market - places further round the coast such as Marmaris and Kusadsi have had that market sewn up for years. That said, the braver of them may still pick up on some cracking deals flying about just now and I reckon once the season starts in earnest, the operators will cut prices to the bone just to get bums on seats rather than cancelling even more flights.
It's also the resorts round the corner who will be the worst affected by the cruise lines binning most Turkish stop overs, especially the small shops, bars and restaurants closest to the terminals that rely on this type of business to survive. Although, I'm not sure I have *that* much sympathy for them given some of the stories I've heard about how they rip off the day visitors.
That leaves the "regulars" and the "holiday home owners". From what I've seen here (and on a couple of other forums) a good proportion of folks that planned to go this year are still going, the only possible barrier would be FCO advice - and lets face it, if that changed the whole area would be stuffed. If you've invested the time and money in buying a home here, then you should know sufficient about the country to make relatively informed decisions about safety. This will apply to a lot of regular visitors, but to a lesser extent as they haven't the same investment (I don't mean financially) as homeowners.
I know the margins a lot of local businesses work to leave little room for a bad season - we've all seen bars, shops and restaurants come and go over the years and this year will be no different except the number of those who go under may increase.
I was trying to think of a year where Turkish business owners I know were happy. I couldn't. Every year I hear the same phrases "worst year ever..." etc, etc. Then the next day I see them in their new 4x4, or they've sent me a link to their holiday photographs from Thailand. It's odd, but that used to happen to a greater extent when I was trying to get them to pay my invoice, or agree to a new web site :)
Nicola got it right when she said "When the demand is low those that excel will succeed".
Let's see what the season brings...
JF
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I agree with JF on this it will be interesting to see/ hear next year how things have gone this year in Calis area.
Also Thompson 5 year deal ended last year with the MUTLU , OYKUN AND CLUB E.
And seeing some of the crazy prices around for the oykun and club e on Thompson web site with up to £ 450 Per couple discount packages in June for 14 nights B/ it appears these two have struggled to fill the rooms this year so far, although the Oykun have done up quite swish 1 of the buildings buildings during the off season .bookings I understand with regular clients bookings are down .
I also note that quite a number of Calis hotels have B/B Rooms [ 2 persons ] on offer at LESS than £10 per night , 1 was £7.00 per night how can they do this I ask !
it will be very interesting to see how things in general in the area are doing when we arrive next Thursday for a well earned 12 TH Year visit to Calis for our chill out
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I also note that quite a number of Calis hotels have B/B Rooms [ 2 persons ] on offer at LESS than £10 per night , 1 was £7.00 per night how can they do this I ask !
Actually, the prices you've quoted are far better than many hotels received from the larger operators for block bookings. Many hotels did not receive enough (per night) to cover their operating costs and relied on food and beverage sales to simply keep the doors open...
JF
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Hoteliers locally say that the most expensive room is the empty one. As John says, better to have someone in it and have the potential that they will maybe buy a lunch, ice cream or beer or 3. The cleaners, bar staff etc are already getting paid anyway...
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Rooms are the most perishable commodity in any hotel. If you don't sell it tonight, you can't sell it twice tomorrow to make up the deficit.
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You can, but one family are going to be quite angry with you :D
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The desaster area is the all-inclusive area between Antalya and Alanya.
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It's strange how Turkey bookings are down so much but all the deal/discount emails list Spain, Canaries, Greece, Portugal, in fact nearly everywhere except Turkey.
This is the same for flights and holidays and from Thomson, Jet2 and others.
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The airlines cancelled a lot of flights to Turkey and have to offer a lot of additional flights to Spain, Portugal, Greece .....