Depending on which report you read, the number of tourists travelling to Turkey this year has increased by between 10 and 15 per cent.There are a number of reasons suggested for this but there is no doubt that the Turkish authorities are seeing a fantastic opportunity for their country and are doing all they can to make the most of it.

Accession negotiations for Turkey's membership of the EU started in 2005 and the country is working hard to satisfy all the requirements. Turkey is currently one of three candidate countries, the others being Croatia and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Tourism is seen as playing a big part in the country's economic future and rules governing the purchase of real estate by foreign nationals were relaxed recently. This will make it easier for investors to purchase holiday rental properties, also boosting the travel offerings available in the country. Building is still tightly controlled and many coastal areas are protected from "out of character" development projects.

New resorts along the south west coast are slowly being discovered and increases in the number of the flights to airports such as Bodrum, Dalaman, Izmir and Antalya are an indication of the travel growth. Completion of a new international conference centre and the new Kusadasi International Golf Resort is also expected to increase demand for flights to the area.