Turkey protests spread to tourist areas

Protests in Turkey are impacting on tourism after crowds gathered in coastal areas such as Dalaman, Fethiye and Bodrum.

Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism claims every sort of tourism activity is carrying on as normal with no threat to security or transport.

And tour operators claim their resort teams are only reporting peaceful demonstrations in the tourist areas while monitoring the situation closely.

But the president of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, Basaran Ulusoy, said the protests were having an impact on visitors and that there had been some cancellations, reports the Sunday Times.

Akin Koc, managing director of Anatolian Sky Holidays said although he has had ‘one or two’ calls of concern from clients, most customers who know Turkey are more confident.

He said: "I’m confident it will not last too long. It’s a shame that it’s this time of year in the late booking period. It can put people off confirming their holiday.

Koc added that his overseas reps report a handful of peaceful demonstrations not affecting tourists but he is flying to Turkey today and will see for himself what the experience is like for clients.

He added: "I’m frustrated to see it go out of proportion and concerned that young travel agency staff may be influenced by the news."

Thomas Cook UK & Ireland said it was monitoring the situation in Istanbul and other major cities in Turkey, and was are in close contact with the FCO.

A spokesman said: "Our experienced teams on the ground assure us that while there have been reports of a few peaceful demonstrations in some of the main tourist areas, they are fully operational and our holidaymakers are continuing to enjoy these popular resorts."

While Thomson and First Choice sought to reassure customers.

A spokesman said: "All of our customers on beach holidays are in resorts which are a considerable distance – indeed, more than an eight hour drive – from the main demonstrations in Istanbul.

"We are also aware of smaller scale demonstrations in the cities of Izmir and Bodrum.

 "We would like to reassure our customers that the resort served by Izmir airport is over an hour’s drive from the city of Izmir, and remains quiet and calm.

"Demonstrations in Bodrum are in the marina area of the city, not the beach resorts, and therefore customers are advised against visiting the marina during a planned demonstration.

"Our colleagues in our resorts have expressed that it is very much a ‘business as usual’ operation.  The atmosphere is quiet and calm, with people continuing to enjoy their holidays as normal.

"Our Cruise team continues to monitor the situation, and are reviewing the Turkish excursion programme on a daily basis."

British tourists cancelling their holidays to Turkey face losing their money as the Foreign Office has not advised against travel there so tour operators are under no obligation to refund.

The FCO advice currently states: "Following recent demonstrations in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya, Adana, Hatay, Tunceli and other cities across Turkey in which police have used tear gas and water cannon, further violent protests remain possible.

"Two major pro government rallies are due to take place in Ankara and Istanbul on 15 and 16 June respectively. Further demonstrations remain possible in cities across Turkey, week commencing 10 June.

"We advise British nationals to avoid all demonstrations."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed protesters yesterday, on the tenth day of demonstrations against his government.