In Turkey, many people can only dream of lying on the beach of Bodrum. With a few vacation days and low incomes, most of them only go on vacation with relatives – vacation somewhere else is too expensive.
“Where do you think? I have to work all the time. It’s about survival. What do you talk about vacation?” Says the courier driver Sehmus. He could go on vacation, but then he doesn’t get any money. As him, it is possible, depending on the industry and employment status.
Most have the legal vacation entitlement: that is 14 days – from the second year of employment. There are no vacation days in the first year. After five years you are entitled to 20 days.
And that is actually the least, Sehmus says: he works all year round, in cold and in heat and then there is only three weeks of vacation. “That is not enough. You should have at least a month free so that you can really recover.”
Vacation at Family members is the cheapest
Those who have worked long enough can do that. At some point you get up to 26 days free. Employers can grant more, but usually only large companies do this. Cüneyt is 40 years old. He works in a logistics company and has 20 days of vacation a year.
“Of course, these 20 days are not enough – there is more vacation abroad. Although we work longer,” he says. Employees abroad would not have to answer any emails and calls. “With me, with me, regardless of whether Ramadan or sacrificial festival or even on May 1st, I ask me to react to emails and calls.”
Cüneyt doesn’t have to be on vacation either. He is mostly in Sinop on the Black Sea because he comes from there. This is how many do it in Turkey: vacation with family members is the cheapest. Vacation somewhere else is expensive. In addition, more and more people in Turkey have less and less money.
View of the swimming pool of a hotel complex in Bodrum. Turkish families have to pay twice for hotels compared to tourists from abroad, locals tell.
Large discounts for foreign Tour operator
The main reason: The increases in wages do not keep up with inflation. The accountant Özgür therefore makes a short vacation than before, he says. On top of that, as a Turk in his own country, he pays more than others: “In a hotel near Bodrum, I met a foreign family who only had to pay half as much for exactly the same vacation, even as long.” But that was the case ten years ago.
Foreign tour operators buy quotas in hotels early and act on large discounts. They do not apply to Turks. They are rather spontaneous late birds anyway, say locals with a laugh.
This is an advantage this year, says tourism expert Bülent Bülbüloğlu from the Association of Service providers in an interview with the Bloomberg broadcaster. “It is a difficult year – and that seems to be very lucky for locals: there are hotels that offer discounts of 50, 60 percent,” he says.
The aerial photo shows tourists and residents who are on the beach in Bodrum. Only a few Turks can afford vacation there.
Greek islands are becoming more popular
Nevertheless, the demand for trips abroad increases. For example for Greek islands off the Turkish west coast. This is only logical, says accountant Özgür: “Because of the prices – why else? The sea is the same after all. Why should you pay more in Turkey?”
Because of a special regulation, there is a light visa for this. The otherwise stricter visa light is more likely to deter from trips to Western Europe. In any case, only every sixth in the country has a passport. It is often better.
If you don’t take your vacation abroad, you will meet Turkey, especially on the west coast of Turkey in summer. But there are only a few in his country, says Cüneyt from the logistics company that can really go on vacation at all. “There is only a certain little layer that can really go on vacation,” he says. For most it is luxury.
