Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Voets noted that Turkey has one of the fastest growing aviation sectors in Europe. The inclination of individuals toward travelling in recent years has played an important role in this growth, he remarked, adding that easyJet cannot remain indifferent to this potential.

“Low fare flights in Turkey have a big potential even though their market share is only 3%.”

Voets, noting that the Turkish market can easily adapt to low fare flights, said customers are more budget conscious - especially during the economic crisis.

EasyJet, the fourth-largest airline in Turkey in terms of seating capacity, has a market share of 7%, he said.

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Cemil Eren was one of the artists who worked on frescoes at Anıtkabir, Atatürk’s Mausoleum & Museum, in the 1950s. He had his first solo exhibition in Ankara in 1957 & first exhibited in Bodrum in the Haluk Elbe Gallery at Bodrum Castle. He has a summerhouse in Gölkoy & over the years has created a whole series of landscapes & studies inspired by Bodrum.

In the new exhibition he has included his earlier paintings of fishermen as well as his most recent studies of birds & fish while using his signature mastery of white & pale blue shades.
Reversing the winter trend of art galleries closing in Bodrum, the Nurol Art Gallery Bodrum opened in the Oasis Shopping Centre. The Oasis Shopping Centre & Nurol Art Gallery in Ankara worked together for the new opening.

His daughter, Zeynep Eren, has turned her artistic talents to ceramics & statues, creating earthy solid figures in the Kybele tradition of strong Anatolian women. She has also included a series of colourful scenes painted on ceramic tiles using the same style of female figures.

Barış Eren now is a full-time director with the Ankara State Theatre & will not be attending the opening because he will be preparing performances in İzmir. His involvement with theatre is evident in his colourful modern figurative canvases, which are created with a mixture of pastels, acrylics & pencils & exude movement & vitality. The artists’ works are represented in private & corporate collections in Turkey & Europe.

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The data was compiled from the last quarter of 2009 when the majority of holidays are being planned for 2010 and provides an interesting insight into where the British plan to holiday this year. It is hoped a good number of visitors will go onto purchase property in Turkey.

Bodrum (BJV) ranked 15th and Dalaman (DLM) 5th over increasingly less popular Spanish destinations such as; Palma, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Barcelona, Murcia, Ibiza, Fuerteventura and Madrid - a number of which plummeted down the rankings.

Thomas Cook, TUI and easyJet have already announced increases to their services to Bodrum and Dalaman for 2010 to cater for the growth in demand.

Favourite Italian destinations such as Rome, Venice and Milan also saw their rankings slip.

Bodrum and Dalaman polled higher positions than even the most traditional European holiday destinations such as Faro (Portugal), Geneva (Switzerland), Paris and Nice (France), Amsterdam (Holland), Dublin (Ireland), Prague (Czech Rep.), Berlin and Munich (Germany), Salzburg (Austria), Crete (Greece) and Sofia (Bulgaria).

A major contributory factor could well be the strength of the Euro against the pound where the British in particular, when contrasted against their European counterparts, enjoy a beneficial rate when exchanging their pounds for Turkish Liras – more than doubling their money.

Turkey significantly attracted more interest as a holiday destination than Cyprus, Egypt, Morocco, Dubai and Malta.

Further afield, again Bodrum and Dalaman attracted more interest than New York and Las Vegas (USA), Bangkok (Thailand) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

Orlando however, polled 4th position and is one the highest climbers compared to the same period last year, up 12 places. Travel Editor Sam Baldwin comments: “The rise in popularity of Orlando is primarily due to the new Harry Potter theme park opening in the spring. Other big movers include Johannesburg and Cape Town as the World Cup is just around the corner”. The top 3 positions remained unchanged.

Turkey emerged as a clearly favoured holiday destination for 2010 and is certainly continuing to build on its growing reputation as a cost effective alternative to traditional Spanish destinations.

Cumberland Properties can endorse these findings having already sold 2 properties at Woodland Regency in the first week of January 2010 and are currently experiencing a significant increase, over the same period last year, in enquiries for both property in Bodrum and rentals in Bodrum, having already secured a number of reservations for the ever popular Seaview Regency Prestige

Oh, and should you have the good fortune to be holidaying in Turkey during the world cup; fans of the beautiful game will be relieved to hear that their enthusiasm is shared by most Turks, so rest assured you won’t have to travel to far to find superb coverage of the event.

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A large proportion of visitors to Turkey invest in Turkish property either for personal use or in the knowledge that its value will multiply considerably. Compared to conventional and established resorts, such as the south of Spain, currently property in Turkey offer exceptional value as well as excellent rental returns during the high season.

Numerous significant and distinguished enterprises are committing extensive financing to their investments in Turkey. The knowledge that Turkey aims to become a major player in the world’s property market also gives buyers a sense of security. Indeed, the world’s largest tour operator, TUI, has listed 2 Turkish hotels among the 10 best hotels in the world and the Hilton intends to extend into Turkey with 15 new hotels across the country over the next 5 years.

Turkey is well on the way to preparing itself for the wave of popularity. On top of more than 45 operating airports, new airports are scheduled to open and championship golf courses are being built. However, in order to preserve the country’s natural beauty and protect coastal resorts, building restrictions have been put in place: Turkey is learning fast from Spain’s mistakes. Another notable advantage when investing in Turkish property is the fact that the average price of a home will be 3 times less than an equivalent property in Spain.

As tourism in Turkey rises by approximately 20% per year, the price of property increases at nearly the same rate. There are already over 62,000 foreign owned properties in Turkey, of which approximately half are thought to be British. With the exceptional value of property and inexpensive price of living, such figures are hardly surprising.

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So what exactly does Turkey have to offer?
Situated in south eastern Europe Turkey is fairly unique in that it is actually bordered by eight different countries which include Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria. The Mediterranean Sea is to the south, the Aegean Sea is to the west and the Black Sea is to the north offering access to literally millions of people within a fairly short distance. When you also include the 70 million plus population which Turkey itself boasts this offers significant tourist and property investment opportunities.

The Turkish economy
There has been a significant shift in the Turkish economy which had been traditionally dominated by agricultural operations. While agriculture still plays a major part in the Turkish economy it is dominated by the industrial sector (30.8%) and the services sector which accounts for a massive 59.3% of the economic output of the country. It is interesting to see the massive growth in the tourist sector, the majority of which has happened over the last 20 years and is playing an ever greater role in the thoughts and actions of the Turkish authorities.

In 2008 alone there were over 30 million visitors to Turkey generating in excess of $20 billion in revenue for the economy. While figures for 2009 are difficult to predict bearing in mind the ongoing economic turmoil around the world there is no doubt that Turkey is now one of the main tourist attractions of the world.

Interestingly there has been a significant shift in the growth pattern of the Turkish economy as the agricultural sector has reduced and other sectors have stepped into the mix. Between 2002 and 2007 gross domestic product in Turkey grew by an average of 7.4% and is expected to have grown by around 5.4% in 2008. This puts Turkey near the top of the league of fastest growing economies in the world and bodes very well for the future.

The climate of Turkey
There are few countries in the world which can offer the variation in climate and landscape available in Turkey. The country boasts an array of mountainous regions where temperatures can be freezing many months of the year against the backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea resorts which are attracting the vast number of tourists to the region.

However, Istanbul is one of the major attractions for overseas visitors and overseas investors with a population of over 12 million with the second largest city in Turkey, which is Ankara, hosting a population of just over 4 million. The mixture of sun, sea, sand, mountains and culture has always been available although the actions of the current Turkish government have seen many areas of the country opened up over the last few years.

The Turkish property market
As the increase in tourist numbers has filtered through to the economy this has created significant demand for both holiday homes and tourist attractions. Prior to the onslaught of the global economic downturn and the withdrawal of many overseas property investors from countries such as Turkey there had been significant growth in property prices in the region. However, as with all other tourist dominated property markets around the world we have seen prices fall over the last few months although there is some debate as to how far they will go.

As well as domestic and international property investors staying on the sidelines at the moment, there is also speculation that international property investors in areas such as Marmaris, Bodrum and Didim in the west of Turkey are looking to dispose of their investments. This has caused something of a standstill in this particular region with literally thousands of new homes available and further homes being placed on the market on a regular basis.

This particular trend has been repeated across the tourist dominated regions of Turkey and many people are now of the opinion that the fall may well be overdone when you consider that Turkey still has a very strong economy and a very strong tourist industry. Even though the country has a history which goes back centuries it is still a fairly new entrant to the international property market but there is significant potential for future growth.

Transport links to Turkey
While Turkey already has significant transport links due to its attractive position in the world (with eight countries surrounding the country) it is also interesting to see that EasyJet has plans to open direct flights between London and Bodrum from the end of April 2009. This is a significant development when you bear in mind that budget airlines such as EasyJet have been cutting back on their transport routes and reverting to their central spine of lucrative transport links.

For EasyJet to go ahead with a new transport link in the current economic environment is a testament to the future potential of Turkey. This is sure to be something which will register on the radar of many international and domestic property investors looking for areas to target as and when the world economy starts to pick up.

Conclusion
Turkey has been an up-and-coming country for some time now with the ongoing expansion of the tourist industry and the new mix of industry leaders in the economy it all bodes very well for the future. Interestingly many experts still expect tourist numbers will increase in what is sure to be a “difficult” 2009 even though many tourist markets around the world are in disarray.

The purely technical situation which has seen mortgage payments increase for those in countries such as the UK, where the local currency has collapsed, has seen a significant number of properties placed on the market. While it would be foolish to suggest that Turkey can escape the ongoing worldwide economic downturn there are elements of the economy and the property market which offer great comfort to those already invested in the market and those looking to the future.

Whether now is the time to invest in the Turkish property market remains to be seen but interestingly there are a number of buy to let opportunities available at the moment. Some of the offers available include guaranteed rental incomes of 9.5% for the first five years, many of which are apparently backed by bank guarantees

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This may not seem so significant, until one remembers that Spain had dominated that top spot for the past 30 years. It seems that the appeal of Turkey is rising and rising and in the words of the Association of British Travel Agents, Turkey is enjoying “spectacular growth,” according to Rhiannon Davies from Shelter Offshore, an online publication.

The World Travel and Tourism Council predict that Turkey’s period of growth has really only just begun and that over the coming decade the rate of growth in the tourism sector will reach at least 5 percent annually. Fantastic news for a nation that is already seeing its economy go from strength to strength.

In recent weeks the nation’s currency has slightly recovered from deep falls against the dollar, and as Turkey continues its slow but steady march towards European Union entry, doing everything that is required of it to secure entry, international confidence is rising in this nation.

In the interim, however, the Turkish economy is considered emerging, the nation is largely cash driven and therefore property prices remain low. Mortgages are expected to boost the market, and as big name property developers such as Dubai’s Emaar Properties enter the real estate market, so internationally speaking, interest in Turkey’s brand new and exciting property market is increasing.

All of these positive factors mean that for anyone with a relatively small amount of capital that they want to invest, Turkey could make a very exciting and potentially profitable choice. You can buy in today at a low price, (apartments in coastal areas start from just 35,000 pounds), benefit from one of the first mortgages, rent out your home to the increasing tourism demand and ultimately profit from your property when you come to sell it as it will have likely risen in price as demand for real estate increases and values rise in line with this demand.

For a low cost, low risk entry into property investing, Turkey makes a fantastic choice. What’s more, there is no denying the level of interest in Turkey as a holiday and an investment location, therefore an investor buying in today is not leading the field and therefore shouldering all the risk, they would just be getting in on an early wave of real estate demand. They probably stand the best chance of riding the wave of rising property market success in Turkey, which is why property in Turkey is a good investment to consider.

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All eyes have turned to luxury resident and villa projects after the government lowered the value added tax to 8 from 18 percent for three months for homes over 150 square meters.

The measure comes as a part of the government’s stimulus package. The tax cut has led to an average of 10 percent decreases in prices. Villa and luxury homes now have prices that are about equal to a modest three-bedroom apartment.

The government’s decision to temporarily cut the tax has led to sudden price decreases ranging from 30,000 Turkish Liras to 180,000 liras for units that are 150 square meters or more. However, sector leaders drew attention to the fact that low and medium-income groups did not benefit from this decision. Sector players demand that similar attractive measures should be applied to the whole sector and not only to homes of 150 square meters or more. They expect the stimulus decision to be expanded to homes smaller than 150 square meters.

Visits and calls to the sales offices of luxury houses have increased in the past weeks, according to sector representatives. This increase has not yet reflected on sales statistics, they added. One reason for the lack of change in sales figures is the expectation that the Turkish Central Bank will decrease home loan interests by one point as it did in interest rates. The VAT rate applied to homes smaller than 150 square meters is 1 percent anyway. Since prices of homes larger than 150 square meters are much higher than medium-size apartments, the tax cut reflects as a significant price cut.

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As the adverse effects of the ongoing global financial crisis are increasingly felt by consumers, people from European countries have taken the precaution of cutting their tourism expenditures. İlbahar said on Monday that bookings were fewer this year compared to the same period in 2008. Our hotels may see a decline in visitors, he said, adding that the hotel booking rate has been 55 percent since the beginning of the year - it was 60 percent in 2008.

Underlining that the crisis has affected the economy of Russia, which sends the most tourists to Turkey, İlbahar noted that the number tourists from that country may be lower this year compared to the past few years. He said the number of tourists from the Netherlands however, would not fall since statistics show that people in the Netherlands do not change their vacation plans even during the worst crises.

The number of tourists travelling to Turkey in the first two months of the year declined to 1.65 million, a 1.7 percent drop compared to the same period in 2008, according to tourism figures for January and February released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday. Germany sent the highest number of tourists to Turkey during the first two months of this year, with 144,709, while Bulgaria came in second, with 90,018, followed by Georgia, the UK, Russia and France.

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This website includes lots of guides about Turkey including the buying process, local information and everything you need to know to live abroad.

Check out www.theturkishpropertyguide.com for more information.

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