Icmeler Online Holiday Forum & Reviews - Turkey

No....I'm not worried about visiting Icmeler this year. We are booked.
No....I'm not worried about the big tour operators who are cancelling/amending flights. Their Turkey bookings may be down but they'll make up the shortfall with bookings to other destinations.

I am worried for the little man with reported bookings generally down. The family run hotel or apartment block. The boat owner who has run trips for 15/20 years. The bar owner. The restaurant owner. The icecream seller. The barber. The "small" tour operator.

This is not a post questioning whether people are returning or not. That is a personal choice which should be respected by all. This is a general question for people who either visit Icmeler regularly, or actually live/work there.

What is your "gut feeling" for the coming season?

Personally I think it's gonna be tough but I would like some input from people with far more experience than myself. Any chance?

hiya

we thought long and hard about where to go this year, checked out lanzarote, tenerife, algarve etc but just said to hell with it we are going back to icmeler,( which will be our ninth time). I just put all the thoughts of any troubles to the back of my mind and just get on with what we love doing and that is holidaying in icmeler. long may it continue

I'll be back with the other half in May , ready to spend some money in the resort.

Missed the Istanbul bombing by 5 weeks, so I'm good for my next holiday.

back to my favourite resort !

I agree its going to be tough for the local businesses this year - the reduced number of visitors is likely to increase competition.

I expect even places known to be regularly busy will see a shortfall - I've seen on Facebook some workers have sorted out their employment already for the coming season.

Will be interesting to see what happens in terms of prices this year.

53 days to go....

Well we didn't hesitate to book to go back to Icmeler. We are also going to Istanbul and Cappadocia that is how safe we feel.
It is going to be tough for the shops and restaurants etc with all the scare mongering that is going on, they work hard for the little they get and i do feel sorry for them.
No where is 100% safe these days so why people start to panic is beyond me but fair enough if they don't feel secure then don't go...(more efes for me)
Only thing i am scared of is the tour company going bust or being stopped from traveling for one reason or another, (booked with credit card so wouldn't be a problem though, just an inconvenience).
Roll on July, we are so looking forward to our holiday which will also be our honeymoon, (8th time in Icmeler)

We always go about middle 2 weeks in May and over the years the resort has become quieter. From a purely selfish perspective that suits us perfectly as I prefer a nice quiet holiday, must be my age!!!!!

I do feel however for the bars and restuarants it has been tough in recent years and this year, due to lots of scare mongering in the media, bookings are down and I think this could be the final nail in the coffin for some businesses

Over the years bars that were always busy like Venice where you could not get a seat at times for the past 2 years we have noticed a difference. It is busy but you can now get a seat easily most nights

One possible bright spot on the horizon is that TC have now cancelled flights to Sharm, will those who are booked to go there now come to Turkey??

There is a lot of behind the scenes "fixing" going on this year

Ok we know there is an idiot in charge of the Turkish government at the minute and in my opinion everything is to do with him but......................

The big tour operators namely the 2 big ones went to all the hoteliers and aparts owners in the Spanish, Portugese and other resorts across Europe and gave them the story that bookings will be down all over Europe this year due to the troubles so drop your prices and we will make sure we fill your rooms

Reports are then leaked to the press that bookings are 40% down to Turkey this year so this makes people look elsewhere as it is natural for people to worry and headlines like that do not make things look good.

I thought myself the other day when one of the big operators said we have cancelled everything to Sharm until October 31st 2016.What they didnt say is we are still selling Hurgarda about 35 miles away so a lot of it is manipulation

All those rooms that they got cheap in the other countries this year will be full but the prices wont drop to the public but there will be a fat profit made

Local traders are the ones hurt but the big boys will carry on

Speaking to friends at my local who never been turkey said they won't go turkey due to troubles next door in Syria ,I noticed last few years Icmeler got quieter and quiter to many bars and restaurants for amount tourism , I feel for people this year who got make living the repeat Icmeler tourist return but to entice new tourist very tough ,good luck to our friends

I'm must be bloody minded, but it hasn't worried me in the slightest about the issues in the middle East at the moment it could just as easy happen here in the UK ... So I'm looking forward to arriving back in Icmeler in June with my wife , I just hope most people working in Icmeler arnt efected to badly by negative publicity

we also don't take to much notice of the negative reports and so long as the travel companies will take my booking we will keep going. Roll on September

Hi all
My self and my wife weren't concerned when we booked for the 13th of may yes that's right Friday the 13th lol! And we have also booked our usual 2 weeks early September, recently my wife has got a little worried when whilst in supermarkets etc people ask have you booked your holidays this year and when we say icmeler twice yet again we are greeted with a sharp intake of breath followed by either I wouldn't go there or what your still going which has caused my wife to question whether we should still be going realistically I think that people that have been going for many years will continue to do so however people that have never been will be put off by all the problems,we were in tunisia 7 days before the terrible events staying at the same hotel that the shooting took place at so we have no worries going back to our second home beautiful icmeler.

Hi,
Booked for Icmeler again this year, as it has already been mentioned where are you safe anymore.
We even had Glasgow Airport attacked in 2007.
We are not anymore worried this year than last year, the Turkish people will welcome us with open arms as they always do.
I recently had a 4 day trip to mainland Spain and if I ever needed convincing to go back to Icmeler then this was it.
Although we never really had any complaints in Spain, I feel that you are looked after so much better by the Turkish people whether it be in the Hotels, Restaurants or bars.
Not to mention the quality of the food & drink.
Looking forward to our visit in July.

In the press today - reports that the coastal regions of Eastern Spain will be targetted by ISIS all summer - same methods as last year's attacks in Tunisia.

If you keep your nose clean, know the areas where you go to during your holiday and don't make stupid remarks that could be misinterpreted by locals in a bad way, why should you holiday be spoiled ??

We feel much safer walking around Icmeler at night than in some areas of our home town, and wouldn't attempt to venture out in the next door town's seaside resort pubs & clubs - far too many drunken idiots running around.

Roll on May !

I dont thin Icmeler will have huge issues with returning customers, who are very loyal to the resort. It is trying to attract those who have not been before. With the amount of negative publicity in the media, flights being down etc this may put first timers off

The Russians will not be there either in large numbers, which will impact the AI hotels they stay in. I know they may not spend a lot outwith the hotels bu they do usually go on boat trips etc so again this may have an impact on some local business

Most important thing people is you have worked hard for your holiday, relax and enjoy it and take sensible precautions as you would at home and have a great holiday when it comes

Not at all worried. Booked as usual for June. We will be frequenting all our usual haunts..spending our lira as normal.