Quiet Start to Tourist Season in Calis Beach?

[desmartinson]

And obviously not interested in the point she is trying to make Ally. which she is right about in my opinion.  

[Jacqui Harvey]

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. 

[Ally B]

There were some really nice items Jacqui .Just wished we could have taken some home, but 22kls does not allow much scope.

[Steve A]

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

[BernieTeyze]

Looking at the webcams for oludeniz, there are quite a few about now on the beach.

[marina]

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,   

[JohnF]

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

[blueclad]

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

[JohnF]

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

[Scunner]

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...