Çeşme will host millions of visitors this holiday season

Çeşme, which hosted more than one million holidaymakers and had a full Ramadan Holiday, is preparing to welcome over a million holidaymakers this holiday season with the extension of the Eid al-Adha holiday to 9 days.
The announcement of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to extend the Eid al-Adha holiday to 9 days was welcomed by tourism professionals and shopkeepers, while holidaymakers intensified their holiday reservations. Çeşme, a tourism paradise that was one of the most preferred tourism destinations during the Ramadan Holiday, is also among the most preferred tourism resorts during the Eid al-Adha holiday. President of Çeşme Association of Touristic Hoteliers (ÇEŞTOB) Yakup Demir stated that reservations for the holiday season are very high and they expect full occupancy in hotels.
“We really wanted the holiday to be extended to 9 days.”
Yakup Demir, President of ÇEŞTOB, pointed out that Çeşme is a destination that attracts more local tourists during these dates. He stated, “We achieved a significant occupancy during the Ramadan Holiday. It was also the beginning of the tourism week. Extending the holiday to 9 days was truly a remedy for tourism professionals. However, we experienced a decrease right after the Ramadan Holiday. This naturally kept our graph a bit lower due to the season not fully starting between the two holidays, and the weather not being very favorable. When we reached these days, we were very pleased with the announcement of our President that the Eid al-Adha holiday is extended to 9 days. We, as tourism professionals, really wanted this. Through the press and by meeting with the deputies of our Ministers, we requested that a decision be made to extend the holiday to 9 days. All tourism NGOs made requests in this regard. This request was met and the holiday was extended to 9 days. Currently, our holiday reservations are going very well. We have reached 60% occupancy these days.”
“Our expatriates’ reservations are also very high this year.”
Demir stated that the reservation intensity is focused on the dates when the holiday will start in a week. He said, “We expect an occupancy exceeding 90% in Çeşme between June 15-22. The weather is very nice. The holiday season has started. All beaches in Çeşme are open. So, summer has arrived in Çeşme. The summer holiday has begun. Both domestically and internationally, especially our expatriates have very high reservations this year. We receive a lot of interest from expatriates. They make up for our shortcomings. They complete our budget. So, we are expecting a good season.”
“We are striving to minimize costs.”
Drawing attention to the fact that the economic crisis is still ongoing, President of ÇEŞTOB Demir said, “Under the shadow of this crisis, we have serious wear and tear in our purchases. Our costs are very high. Personnel costs are very high. Tourism means a sector that serves all necessities in our lives. We continue to maintain the necessities in our hotels in the same way as in human life. We face serious costs. From olives to watermelons, from electricity to water, when we look at all our expenses, we see that there are serious costs. We are striving to minimize these costs.”
“We still have good expectations for Çeşme.”
President of ÇEŞTOB Yakup Demir concluded by saying, “Looking at the results, yes, maybe we will not make much profit this year, but we still have good expectations for Çeşme. We will convey our thanks when we meet with you at the end of the season. We will say ‘We said so'”.
“Çeşme and Alaçatı are heaven on earth.”
On the other hand, Efsun Hatibi, who stays at the hotel of President Demir and is from Iranian Azerbaijan, stated that she settled in Turkey because she loved it very much. She said, “Right now, we are probably in the most beautiful hotel in Alaçatı. We are having a great time. Turkey is very beautiful. We settled in Turkey. Çeşme and Alaçatı are heaven on earth. We are in this beautiful paradise with my wife and friends. We are considering coming back again. Many guests come from Iran anyway. I think there is no better place than Turkey. We are very happy to be here.”