Number of tourists who visited the Turkish megalopolis increased by 15%.
In the first seven months of 2011, Turkey’s Istanbul saw over 84,600 Azerbaijani tournaments which is twice as high as last year’s indicators of the same period.
According to Turkish mass media, in the said period the number of tourists who visited the Turkish megalopolis increased by 15% to settle at 4,670,000.
Istanbul attracts tourists with its historical and cultural values.
In the past years, the number of tourists, who prefer Turkey, is gradually growing thanks to the steps taken by the Turkish government. Today the country is seventh by the number of tourists and eighth by the profitability of the tourism sector.
According to TurkStat, in 2010 foreign tourists brought $25bn. By the end of the year the tourism sector will bring at least $30bn to Turkey.
via News.Az – Number of Azerbaijani citizens visiting Istanbul grows.
Idyllic: Bitez near Bodrum Mugla, Turkey. One of Holidays 4 U's destinations Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2021950/Holidays-4U-Aegean-Flights-bust-50-000-summer-breaks-tatters.html#ixzz1U3NAJoqe
Thousands of families have lost their summer holiday at the last minute following the collapse of travel firm Holidays 4 UK.
The company, which traded as Holidays 4U and Aegean Flights, mainly sold cheap package holidays and flights to Turkey.
An estimated 13,000 people who are currently abroad will be worried about how they are going to get home.
Another 50,000 who have future bookings with the group over the peak season have lost their holidays completely. Hundreds who were due to board a flight from Manchester to Dalaman in Turkey last night were told they should not travel to the airport.
The current financial difficulties in the travel industry suggest other firms could go bust before the summer is out.
In theory, all those already abroad should be able to complete their holiday and travel home as normal under the ATOL rescue scheme administered by the Civil Aviation Authority.
However in the past there have been problems with foreign hotels following the collapse of British travel companies. Some have expected customers to pay again for fear they will not get the money owed to them by the travel company.
People with future bookings who have lost their holidays should get all of their money back under the ATOL scheme.
But it will take several weeks for the money to come through and it will be very difficult to find an alternative holiday at such a late hour.
ATOL spokesman David Clover said: ‘There is never a good time for a travel firm to fail – unfortunately the height of summer is the worst possible time.
‘However people who booked ATOL-protected holidays with Holidays 4U who are currently abroad will be able to complete their holiday or claim a refund from the CAA.’
The CAA said: ‘All package holiday bookings and flights are now cancelled and customers are advised not to go to the airport.’
The failure of the Brighton-based firm comes with the travel industry under fierce pressure because of the squeeze on family budgets.
Thomas Cook chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa resigned yesterday after the company issued three profit warnings in the last year.
And the specialist travel agent Gill’s Cruise Centre failed last month creating uncertainty for thousands of travellers.
The CAA said: ‘Customers who contracted package holidays with Holidays 4U will be financially protected under ATOL 4097 and should make a claim for a refund through the CAA.
‘Customers are advised to speak to their travel agent about making a claim under the ATOL scheme. Travel agents may be able to book alternative holidays.
‘Customers who booked just flights with Holidays 4U are also ATOL protected and may be eligible to claim a refund for the flight.
‘For any separate accommodation booked with a travel agent, customers are advised to speak to their agent about whether any alternative arrangements can be made.’
Administrators at Price-waterhouseCoopers have been brought in to take over the affairs of the travel firm, which has 18 employees and had an annual turnover of about £35million.
The company was licensed to carry 66,000 passengers during July to September and more than 100,000 a year. It has been trading since 1994 and had offices in Marmaris and Bodrum.
Turkey is popular with Britons despite political turmoil in neighbouring countries because, unlike the eurozone, it is relatively cheap. PwC joint administrator Ian Oakley-Smith said: ‘The company has suffered because of the difficulties faced by the travel industry during 2010 and 2011, as a result of the economic downturn.
‘The company will cease operating with immediate effect. Regrettably most staff have been made redundant.’
While families who have booked with tour operators in the ATOL scheme will get their money back if the firm goes bust, it is more of a grey area for the increasing number who put together their own flights, hotels and car hire.
A family might get flight costs refunded, but they could lose other deposits or payments to hotels and car rental firms if they cannot take up their bookings on the planned dates.
Passengers currently on holiday and those who booked direct with the company, rather than through an agent, should visit www.caa.co.uk for the latest information
Those abroad experiencing problems can also ring the CAA on 0044 (0)161 444 5810
* Has your holiday been ruined by the collapse of Holidays 4U? Call our newsdesk on 020 7938 6372
via Holidays 4U and Aegean Flights go bust: 50,000 summer breaks in tatters | Mail Online.
See the highlights of two ancient civilisations with a dreamy cruise along the Bosphorus says Naomi Leach
The markets of Istanbul
“Lovely jubbly, that’s what the English all say, isn’t it?” I am asked for the fifth time. “No,” I assure him, only TV caricature Jamie Oliver has that catchphrase. “Yeah my British friend said it to me on the book face,” he persists and I just smile. This is the beginning of our haggling banter over Turkish delight. I am in Istanbul’s vibrant Egyptian bazaar, alone. My travel companions are lost to the endless stalls of irresistible teas, sweets and spices. I have already escaped the clutches of a market trader trying to sell me love tea and begging me for a kiss. The men here are shameless flirts, which in a way, adds to the heady energy of this ancient, ever evolving city.
A surprising 20 million people live in Istanbul, setting a frenetic pace of traffic jams and pedestrians spilling out of shisha cafes and shops. Touches of the old and the new jostle happily alongside each other, with New York style yellow taxi cabs snaking through crumbling, cobbled streets. And grizzled traders sell corn on the cob to eager tourists.
It’s a Saturday morning and I have arrived in this historic city by cruise ship. My weekend escape began at dawn on Friday, with a short Olympic Air flight from Larnaca to Athens. I was impressed with the food and rousing coffee on board which set me up for my adventure. From Athens we got a bus to Piraeus where the Louis Cristal cruise ship awaited us.
Boarding and security checks were relatively simple. We just had to relinquish our passports in exchange for a charge card and room key which provided us with access to the spa, beauty salon, gym, casino, shop, internet, jacuzzi, swimming pool and any of four restaurants on board. Travelling on a cruise ship is a decadent and relaxing way to get around. It almost feels like cheating somehow. You’re so busy enjoying the facilities you almost forget that this is the journey. As we sped towards Istanbul, I spent the afternoon exploring the 10 decks of the ship.
Nestled on the ninth floor I found a haven of indulgence – the Wellness Beauty Centre. For €59, I experienced a hot stone massage so good it would make even a keyed up, off duty soldier unwind. Incidentally, I met an American one fresh from Afghanistan in the spa foyer and he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. It was the same everywhere I wandered on board, 1,200 passengers either laughing in the restaurants, reclining by the pool or sunbathing on the terraces.
In the evening, the Rigoletto restaurant served delicious seafood from the kitchen of famed Cypriot chef Christoforos Peskias. Each night there is a karaoke and disco at the Stars Lounge. We busted a few moves on the dance floor before capitulating to exuberant guests, who were half our ages. The older folk were socialising in the restaurants, pool bar or casino. Or watching Arabian Nights performed live.
The following morning, as we approached Istanbul along the Bosphorus, the busy, ancient waterway which marks the border between Europe and Asia, we were given a glimpse of what has captivated so many civilisations throughout history. The collision of cultures from the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Empire, to modern day Turkey hangs heavy in the dramatic skyline of minarets, skyscrapers and red flags fluttering in the breeze. From the top deck, the distinctive silhouette of Hagia Sophia shimmers in the distance. Up close, the enchanting museum did not disappoint.
The cavernous entrance is decorated with slices of marble and extravagant gold laced mosaics. In the main hall, light flitters through the windows of the enormous dome, to reveal the awe inspiring detail of the building. It started life in 360AD as a Greek cathedral constructed with columns recycled from Roman temples. When the Ottoman Empire rose to power in 1453, it was converted to a mosque. Now a museum, the confusing mix of both religious styles is visible as the plaster has crumbled, exposing biblical mosaics next to Arabic prayers. This staggering building took a long time to absorb and is understandably considered the finest Byzantine monument in the world.
Visitors who love eastern fabrics, ethnic lamps, pottery and beads will be overwhelmed with choice in Istanbul. There is a dizzying labyrinth of 4,500 market stalls and shops in the city. We headed for the simmering bustle of the Grand Bazaar first. Within half an hour, I was swathed in a deep turquoise silk scarf, despite the 36 degree heat. I was proudly wearing the beautiful piece of craftsmanship I had managed to haggle down to a disgracefully low price.
Nar Lokanta in the city centre is an art gallery and museum showcasing Ottoman era costumes. Hidden on the fifth floor of this stylish building is a roof garden and restaurant. Here we enjoyed local Turkish cuisine of hunkar begende, stewed chunks of beef with artichoke and aubergine. This was followed by Mastic flavoured rice pudding.
Our next stop was the Chora Museum, which is out of the city centre. If you are on the Byzantine trail during your trip, then you shouldn’t miss the detailed gold murals and frescoes in this 11th century church. If you’re on a spiritual visit, you can meet the leader of the Ecumenical Patriarchy at St George’s church in the city too.
Before returning to the cruise ship, I went to the Egyptian spice market then later stocked up on baklava at Karakoy Gulluoglu, which has been making the sweet treats since 1820. We ate these on board while watching a hazy amber glow suffuse the city. The Muslim call to prayer lilted hypnotically in the distance, as the sun set over Istanbul.
Sunday morning was spent rippling through the azure waters at 18 knots. Some guests (but not me unfortunately) saw dolphins dancing alongside the boat. After lunch, Izmir came into view, a dense city of skyscrapers, beside the sea. For those interested in the history of Greeks in Turkey, Izmir like Istanbul, proved an emotional stop. Just a handful of decrepit houses in traditional Greek style remain in this city. Quaint horse drawn carriages parading along the seafront jar with the backdrop of high rise buildings and malls. In Turkey’s third largest city, we whiled away a Sunday afternoon in a backstreet cafe and gorged on cheese and honey pastries, washed down with a strong menthol tea.
That night, we entered Greek waters and a celebratory mood erupted. Traditional Greek food was served in the restaurants and a Greek dancing show was performed to a packed out audience in the theatre. Once the show ended a long night of traditional Greek dancing ensued. With arms out stretched and animated gesticulation, young and old alike swelled on to the stage and dance floor. Before limping away to bed, I went for a stroll, alone, on the top deck. It was breathtaking looking out into the black abyss, pierced only with a few stars and the frothing waves below.
At 7.30am we waved goodbye to the cruise ship at Laviron Port and got a coach into Athens. I’d expected a Monday morning in this busy city to be chaotic especially with recent protests but we arrived in Syntagma square and it was empty. The ancient city was hauntingly quiet and could be appreciated all the more greedily since there were few tourists to share it with. Walking away from the opulent banks and luxury hotels to the main shopping streets, there were endless sales, a testament to the country’s current sorry economic state. Amid the jumble of ancient ruins, were pretty bohemian cafes and luxury department stores. As I observed the quiet beauty of the city, sipping on a frappe, with the Parthenon overhead, I could appreciate the contrast of these two countries which have influenced Cyprus. After a morning of shopping, we checked in at Athens airport and boarded an Olympic Air flight back to Larnaca.
Taking an attraction packed journey between Athens and Istanbul, showcased the highlights of two cultures. By cruising between these two enchanting lands, you’re given a unique sense of travelling the region, in just a weekend. Experiencing the Bosphorus waterway between Europe and Asia is still as compelling, as in ancient times.
Getting there
Olympic Air flight from Larnaca to Athens return €220 (at time of booking)
www.olympicair.com
Louis 4 day Cruise from Pereas to Istanbul to Izmir and Athens €480 (food all inclusive)
www.louiscruise.com
Attractions
Hagia Sophia Museum www.muze.gov.tr
Chora Museum www.muze.gov.tr
Shops
Cashmere and Scarves Shootosh and Home Textiles, Sandal Bedestan Sk, No 15 Grand Bazaar Beyazit
Melissa Baharat, Misir Carsisi Ici No.22 Eminonu, Egyptian Bazaar
Food and Drink
Nar Lokanta, Nuruosmaniye Caddessi, No.65, Istanbul www.narlokantasi.com
Put your map away and spin round three times – it is time to get lost. Going off the radar in a strange city can be the perfect way to uncover its secrets, get a feel for the layout and meet the locals.
Of course, there is good lost and bad lost. It is best done on purpose, with plenty of time to spare and a sound way to get found again. Some cities lend themselves to this kind of off-the-chart adventure; here are six of our favourites – and six ways to make it home again.
Venice
This northern Italian city is the ultimate head-spinner. First it comes at you with an endless recession of identical canals and bridges, then it veers off at odd angles and into blind corners, and all the time boggles your senses with its impossible film-set beauty. No fair, Venice! Getting lost here pays – the tramp of a thousand tourists yields to tranquil sunlit courtyards and the sound of pigeons’ wings.
Get found: Look for signs and arrows scrawled on the walls. You can follow them to hubs like the Rialto and L’Accademia.
Varanasi
You could throw yourself into Varanasi’s dark maze of streets a hundred times over and still come out at a different point. Discover temples, sweet shops and silk bargains in the back alleys of this Indian city.
Get found: Countless bicycle rickshaw drivers will be only too happy to take you home – for a price that is in range of just about every budget.
London
Most visitors to London have a fractured, point-to-point experience of the city, popping up from tube stations to visit the sights then diving underground again. It is efficient, but where is the romance? Try to wander and you will be rewarded by grand squares, secluded churchyards and one-off boutiques.
Get found: Just look for the distinctive London Underground sign. Bingo, you are back on the map!
Tokyo
The bewildering pace and flickering neon of this go-go city guarantee a bit of giddiness. Abandon yourself to the disorientation and you might just get off-road enough to find the wabi-sabi side of Tokyo.
Get found: Like London, Tokyo has an excellent public transport system. If it all gets too much, jump a train back to home base.
Istanbul
There are (at least) two great things about getting out of the tourist centre in Istanbul. One – the hotels and hard-sell rug merchants fall away, replaced by local tea shops, parks and houses. Two – the city’s rollercoaster hills reward you with Bosphorus views and toned-up legs. Get lost every day and see your fitness soar!
Get found: If you want to get back to the tourist area, stop for a glass of tea and ask the way to Sultanahmet. Soothe your tired muscles in one of the city’s spectacular bath houses.
Canberra
With its systems of circular roads, Australia’s capital city regularly traps its visitors in a hamster-wheel spiral of confusion. But there are better ways to get lost here. Head out of the city centre – yes, into the bush. Keep going. There! See those suburbs? That is where the life of the city is going on – including some of its best eating.
Get found: Hooray for GPS! Or go with the traditional Aussie method and ask for directions at a servo (service station).
All action girl: Natalie Cassidy keeps herself occupied – and in shape – on holiday in Turkey with jetskiing, swimming and yoga
By Jody Thompson
Jet set: The former EastEnders star has decided she needs cheering up after her former fiancé Adam Cottrell's conviction for assaulting her Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2016688/Natalie-Cassidy-stays-shape-holiday-Turkey-jetskiing-swimming-yoga.html#ixzz1TUnACWu8
Jet set: The former EastEnders star has decided she needs cheering up after her former fiancé Adam Cottrell’s conviction for assaulting her
She’s had one of the most traumatic years of her life – and former EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy has got away from it all on a last-minute holiday to Turkey.
The soap actress has gone on the break with a friend and baby daughter Eliza to stay in a five star hotel in the south of the country – and to escape everything surrounding her 31-year-old former fiancé Adam Cottrell’s conviction for assaulting her.
Heartbroken Natalie, 28, who has suffered from yo-yoing weight over the years, looked like she had shed the pounds too during her recent ordeal – and appeared determined to keep it off whilst abroad too.
via Natalie Cassidy stays in shape on holiday in Turkey with jetskiing, swimming and yoga | Mail Online.
Deadly bootleg alcohol placing Turkey’s tourist trade at risk
Thomas Seibert
Jul 29, 2011
ISTANBUL // Cheap, illegal and poisonous alcohol has become a danger to Turkey’s booming tourism industry.
The death this month of Viktoria Nikoloeva, 22, a Russian tour guide, from alcohol poisoning is the latest in a series of incidents that have moved authorities to seize up to 12,000 bottles of possibly lethal liquor that may have been delivered to holiday resorts on the southern coast just at the start of the high season.
Four other members of Nikoloeva’s group on a boat tour died in June after they consumed alcohol, while several more fell ill.
After Nikoloeva’s death, another Russian national fell into a coma after her return from a week-long holiday. Doctors in Moscow had concluded that the woman, Oksana Medvedeva, 36, had suffered alcohol poisoning, Russian media reported.
Russians are one of the country’s most important tourist groups. Almost 10 per cent of the nine million foreign tourists in the first five months of this year came from Russia, according to government figures. Only Germans, with a 15 per cent share of the total, had more people on Turkey’s beaches. With visa requirements for Russians lifted this year, the number of Russian tourists was expected to rise further.
With a record of almost 27 million visitors last year, tourism is a crucial economic sector, bringing in revenues of just under 35 billion lira (Dh76.8bn) in 2010. Officials estimate that this year’s numbers will be even higher, with 31 million visitors and revenues of 42bn lira. But government and tourism officials are concerned that scandals such as the deaths from bootleg alcohol could scare off potential visitors.
“It could be damaging in the long run,” Cengiz Haydar Barut, the president of the Association of Tourism Businessmen in Side and Manavgat, two popular seaside districts in Antalya province, Turkey’s most important resort region on the southern coast, said in an interview. “There should be heavier sentences for alcohol smugglers and stricter controls, and taxes on alcohol should be eased.”
After the deaths in June, Ertugrul Gunay, the tourism minister, went into damage-control mode.
“We immediately got in touch with our Russian counterparts,” Mr Gunay told reporters last month. “We told them it was a local problem and not a widespread one.” The minister said Turkey was determined to tackle the problem. “We will not let them get away with it. We will hand down the strongest sentences possible.” There have been no convictions yet, however.
Authorities in Antalya have stepped up efforts to locate illegal alcohol, with 25 teams of investigators visiting hotels, restaurants, tour operators and liquor stores, the agricultural department of the governor’s office said. So far, 12,177 bottles of illegal alcohol had been seized, the department said. Five brands of whisky, gin and vodka have been banned in the province, after some were found to contain dangerous levels of methanol, a poisonous by-product of alcohol production often found in bootleg liquor.
The five Russian tour guides who died from poisonous alcohol were part of a group who were served drinks during a boat trip in the picturesque bays and coves on the Aegean coast near Bodrum.
The lethal drinks had been imported from a company in the Turkish sector of Cyprus, and up to 12,000 bottles were distributed around Turkey’s holiday regions, according to news reports. Several people, including the owner of the boat company, have been arrested.
Some officials say high alcohol taxes in Turkey are one of the reasons why bootleggers keep finding a market for illegal whisky, gin and vodka.
“Even rigorous controls cannot prevent the loss of life,” Bahattin Yucel, a former tourism minister, wrote in a column for turizmdebusabah.com, a website specialising on tourism.
“Every few years, we lose people to bootleg alcohol, because extremely high taxes make alcohol in Turkey expensive.”
Mr Barut, the tourism official from Antalya, said he had not seen any drop in the number of Russian tourists, because the deaths of the tour guides had been “isolated cases”, and not a trend.
“If it does not happen again, we will not see any damage,” he said. “Everyone takes even more precautions now. Turkey remains a safe place for holidaymakers.”
In the first seven months of 2011, Turkey’s Istanbul saw over 84,600 Azerbaijani tournaments which is twice as high as last year’s indicators of the same period.
