Turkey Set For Tourism
December 25, 2009 by Perspective Magazine | Timeshare & Fractional ReviewsGeorge Sell explains how Turkey’s attractions and natural beauty put it in a strong position to go beyond a traditional reliance on domestic business and fully exploit the international vacation ownership market.
Turkey has all the ingredients – including history, culture and scenery – to be a top vacation destination, and the country’s government is aiming to take advantage by making a concerted effort to boost its tourism offering.
It hopes to increase overseas tourist numbers via a concerted marketing campaign and investing in infrastructure to support private investment in tourist facilities, with a long-term plan – the Tourism Strategy of Turkey 2023 – to create a more efficient, profitable and environmentally friendly tourism sector.
- Behzat Aksaray, general manager of Club Dedeman
It’s not all talk – government assistance is set to go further than simply marketing campaigns and infrastructure, according to Behzat Aksaray, general manager of Club Dedeman, one of Turkey’s best-known hospitality brands based in Bodrum and an RCI affiliate. “There are certain government incentives when it
comes to tourism investments in Turkey,” Aksaray says, “such as land allocation to tourism investors on a 49-year lease basis, tax exemption on local machinery and equipment, tax duties and charges exemption on local purchases, reduced corporate tax rates, subsidies on the employer’s share of social security and employment tax, and interest rate subsidies.”
Vassilis Themelidis, an RCI regional director, adds: “The main advantage for developers is the establishment of Turkey as a major tourist destination and the attraction of tourists from various source markets.
“A Turkish developer has the ability to market the product domestically, to Europeans who are travelling to Turkey, as well as to visitors from Asian countries such as Iran who consider Turkey an ideal vacation destination. “Labor costs are relatively low compared to the European average and, as a result, Turkish developers are able to offer high levels of hospitality services.”
These fundamentals certainly make investment attractive for the shared-vacation ownership sector, but a significant issue is attracting more overseas visitors to a market that has traditionally been largely domestic.
As well as concentrating on more traditional beach resorts, forward thinking firms are looking to new trends such as spa resorts and conference tourism to boost visitor numbers.
One example is recent RCI affiliate Salutaris Thermal Resort, due for completion in 2010. Set in the mountainous province of Afyon, it will consist of a hotel plus 204 two-bedroom timeshare units, with amenities including a Turkish bath, saunas, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, thermal pools, a fitness
center and spa.
- The Salutaris Thermal Resort
As the global economic downturn continues to impact both the tourism and real estate markets, there is also an increasing openness to moving to new models such as condo-hotels and fractional ownership
vacation properties.
“Due to the ongoing global economic crisis,” says RCI’s Themelidis, “developers are seeking alternative ways to offer their unsold properties. There is major potential for fractional and condo-hotel opportunities across Turkey.”
Nick Turner, head and vice president of business development for Europe at luxury exchange program, The Registry Collection, adds: “The Turkish market has all of the key fundamentals to make it a very good market for shared ownership. Turkey provides an attractive consumer proposition with a pleasant climate for up to 40 weeks of the year and improving tourism infrastructure has made key destinations more desirable for repeat visits.”
RCI is playing an increasing role in developing the shared-vacation ownership market sector and has affiliated seven new resorts in Turkey in the past 18 months, bringing its total to 42. “RCI has introduced customized trial packs specifically for the Turkish market which act as an entry program and a lead generation tool for Turkish affiliates, and provide the ability for members to test the affiliate’s product and RCI’s member services,” explains Themelidis.
“RCI also facilitates the introduction of international organizations to Turkish affiliates in order for them to initiate sales to major source markets such as Germany, the UK and Russia.”
- Antalya Dedeman resort
Aksaray identified two major benefits of being an RCI affiliate. “Firstly, it enables our customers to go to different resorts and countries for their vacations,” he said. “The second is in helping low season sales – some customers are willing to buy low season in order to use it for exchange. We specifically chose RCI because it’s the largest company in this field and it gives us a positive response rate to exchange requests.”
Tayfun Sarman of Club Armonia Bodrum Evleri in Bodrum also acknowledges the economic benefits of affiliation, saying that in an average year up to 30% of his resort’s business comes through RCI. Club Armonia Bodrum Evleri was completely refurbished in 2008 to bring its accommodation and amenities up to the standard RCI members expect.
Aksaray is convinced the timeshare model is ideal for the Turkish market. “I believe that timeshare and shared vacation, in a country where four seasons can be sold, is a very suitable and necessary product,” he says. “In Turkey people buy summer houses, but only use them for one, or in a few cases, two months. For the remaining 10 or 11 months the house stays empty and gets damaged due to lack of use and maintenance.
“As a result, national wealth stays unused at the beachside. By putting this national wealth to use, timeshare not only helps the country, but helps people enjoy less expensive vacation home purchase and maintenance costs.”
To learn more about RCI, please contact Amanda White on +44 (0)1536 31 4651 or by email at amanda.white@rci.com, or visit www.rciventures.com.
For information on advertising and editorial opportunities with Perspective Magazine & Owners Perspective Magazine; the leading independent B2B & B2C magazines for the timeshare and fractional ownership industries visit www.perspectiverates.com
