Options for domestic tourists in summer season narrow

Duygu Erdoğan – ISTANBUL

Most hotels have opened for the summer vacation season and openings will continue until mid-April. Price increases for the 2023 season range from 40 percent to 125 percent in all-inclusive hotels, the preferred option for families.

Details such as the location of the establishment, its preference and the choice of foreign guests are important factors in the price increases.

In this context, the price of a hotel in Antalya Belek, which was 32,000 Turkish Liras for five nights in July in 2022 season, will be 68,000 liras in the same period in 2023. It is seen that this price increase of more than 112 percent is shaped according to the intense demand. The price of the hotel in the early booking period for five days started from 44,000 liras.

The price of a hotel in Bodrum, which was 17,000 liras for five days in July 2022 as full board, starts at 24,000 liras for five days this season. Accordingly, there is an increase of more than 40 percent in the hotel price.

In general, in the five-day preferences made from reservation sites, it is noticed that there are few hotels below the 30,000-lira limit in early booking hotels in the coastal region. For the same period, a flight from Istanbul to Antalya costs around 1,200 liras for one person one way.

The cheapest prices for a vacation in the same period vary between 15,000 liras and 23,000 liras. There are some all-inclusive beachfront hotels, but in general the distance to the sea and the type of accommodation are the main factors that determine the price. Some of the boutique and small hotels are also in this price range.

During the summer season, when even low prices become difficult for family budgets, the options for local tourists seem to have narrowed considerably.

In the summer season, an important option for domestic tourists in recent years has been summer house rentals. In these weekly, monthly and seasonal rentals, vacationing as at least two families reduce the cost of accommodation.

However, the increase in demand, which began with the pandemic and the increased migration to summer areas with earthquake risk, has made this option more difficult.

Monthly rents of summer houses in Tekirdağ and Edirne, which are the most preferred areas near Istanbul, start at 20,000 liras. Depending on the location, prices can exceed 120,000 liras in the high season.

Detached summer houses in Bodrum and Antalya, especially in the coastal areas of Antalya, have a wide price range from 80,000 liras to more than 1 million liras per month. The rents of the summer houses start from 25,000 Liras in Ayvalık and from 40,000 liras in Didim and Datça.