As Didim sees its international stock rising, the lure of the resort is ever increasing in popularity for all nationalities.
Entering the New Year with new hopes, Didim is approaching the turning point in its tourism arc – as it seeks to move up and begin mixing with the “big boys” in the tourism league such as Marmaris, Bodrum and Kuşdasi.
While bringing a host of new tourism “attractions” on board – such as the new marina, plans for ferry services to Greece and a stock of new bars and restaurants – Didim and its tourism officials are concentrating on helping fill these places with new tourists.
The last five years has seen the British make a well-trodden path down to the shores of Altinkum, but the town has begun to open the eyes of other fellow Europeans, particularly the Germans.
Bringing in the likes of German nationals to the town will in effect be a very good thing. Didim needs to break away from being a “one-trick pony” bringing tourists from the same countries.
In this regard, German Economy Undersecretary Helmut Möller came to Didim as part of a fact-finding mission about the area.
Möller spoke at a meeting organized by Mayor Mümin Kamacı with some tour operators, where he also exchanged ideas about promoting Didim to German tourists.
He said: “Didim, Bodrum and İzmir, because of their closeness to airports and also for their cultural wealth, have advantageous positions for us.”
Möller said he would suggest Didim as the first place in a report he is to prepare for the German Ministry of Tourism and German Tour Operators Association, and mentioned that Didim was on their agenda at the meeting in Belek a while ago.
Stating the meeting had been a success, Möller said, “I am also the chairman of the Consumer Protection Commission. I traveled all over Turkey and I truly appreciated it.
“I have spoken to the Chairman of the German Parliamentarians Tourist Association and he will visit Turkey with a delegation of six members.
“I believe that directing this committee to Didim would be very helpful.”
Kamacı said the arrival of German tourists to the resort would follow that of those who had come on cultural expeditions to Didim in the 1970s.
He said that four million tourists came with the all-inclusive holiday package system and they would often return home without seeing the cultural values of Turkey.
Kamacı emphasized that Turkey should be accepted as a country facing the West and that the end of the all-inclusive system could be a fresh start.
“Our capacity in Didim, regarding both infrastructure and the human factor, is good enough to host German tourists. As the authorities, we are willing to do everything possible,” he said.
Kamacı said the resort was moving in the right direction with the marina set to be complete next year, the customs due to open and the construction of a wharf for ships.
Hopefully, 2008 will be a new chapter in the success story of Didim's emergence on the tourism world map.
