“Turkey is safe, the media should stop putting off tourists” says British migrant
by Leah Wood
The Turkish tourism sector has suffered a devastating loss in recent years as terror attacks, unrest in the south-east and a violent coup attempt have kept tourists away.
A country that ranked as the 6th most popular tourist destination in 2014 and attracted around 42 million tourists saw figures dwindle as safety and security concerns arose.
But 40 year-old Katrina Groom, who has been living in Dalyan for the last 5 years with her husband, insists Turkey is safe and people shouldn’t be put off by the media.
She said: “ I’ve been coming since 2009 and have seen a huge drop in tourism especially the last 2 years, I think it’s because of reports to U.K scare people that it’s unsafe and it’s noticeably damaging our economy.
“They make out it’s on everyone doorsteps but the distance from here to Syria is like U.K. To Germany.”
Last summer saw Tourism Figures fall 47% in July and 53% in August when compared to 2015.
32 year-old Mehmet Guler works as a maitre’d in Izmir, he thinks the media have made it harder for Turkey to recover.
He said: “ I think that media is focusing on turkey as it’s a Muslim country, I think terror attacks that have reflected badly on the religion discourage tourists to visit.
“The media make things worse as it focuses so heavily on the trouble that people don’t know that this is still a beautiful country that has many things to offer UK tourists.”
Official advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth office states that it is generally safe to travel to Turkey but to be vigilant in crowded places during festival periods such as Christmas and New Year.
Despite there still being a high threat of terrorism in Turkey, Mr Guler believes that things will get better.
He said: “Turkey is already past the dangerous time and I think people will soon realise that turkey couldn’t be taken down after the attempted coup in July and will carry on getting stronger.”
