Didim Today

Last month it was revealed that some 80% of the estimated 67,000 tourists to Altinkum and Wider Didim last year were British. It is therefore little wonder that Altinkum property has proven to be one of the hottest sellers with British buyers in the past 3 years, and that sales have continued even throughout the dark days for overseas property seen over the last 12-15 months.

Altinkum property has made quite a name for itself in the past few years for offering some of the best property in the low-price bracket. Altinkum properties for sale start from around £17,000 for a 1 bedroom apartment purchased off the plan, with 2 bedroom units in the top coastal resorts costing no more than £50-£70k -- again, off the plan.

Altinkum really shot to fame in mid-2008, when the first hints of a crisis became apparent in the UK, and, while people still wanted to buy a summer or winter holiday home with their savings, they were deciding to spend a much smaller chunk of those savings on the dream. This caused increasing demand for Altinkum property as people baulked at paying anything over £50k for a 2 bedroom unit.

The figures released by Didim Tourism Association last month revealed that 67,290 foreign tourists had stayed in Didim in the 2008/09 season, accommodated in the 5-star hotels and holiday villages with a total capacity of 5,829 beds, in the 1, 2 and 3-star hotels with a total capacity of one 1,652 beds and in the lodging houses with a total capacity of 11,253 beds.

Chairman of the Association Dennis Attaby said: "The majority were British. The rest were German, French, Dutch and a small number of Russians. "We will continue encouraging investments that will increase the number of tourists who visit the resort. Two more 5-star hotels and a golf course will open in 2011." Altinkum has then seen tourism from Britain increase so rapidly, because of the euro's magnificent rise against the pound.

This meant that Britons could no longer have a really cheap holiday in Spain, and Turkey saw tourism from Britain grow rapidly because of this. Of course the currency exchange reality only accelerated the growth that had been seen in previous years, from 20% to 25% according to Association for British Travel Agents' predictions.

Of course the development and completion of the largest marina on the Aegean has also been a massive booster to Altinkum and its property market. Mark Burns is a Director of Offplanworld.tv, a real estate consultancy specialising in Turkish property, and offering a wide range of property in Altinkum.