Fires, earthquakes and inflation are putting tourists off Turkey

For the fifth year in a row, huge swathes of the country have been incinerated by forest fires.

The areas worst affected, along the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts, are also the centre of the holiday business, and this year’s blazes are just the latest misfortune to befall it: in 2020, the covid-19 pandemic and the Turkish government’s tight travel restrictions saw visitor numbers drop by 90%.

This year there have also been hundreds of earthquakes in the Aegean, sparking fears that a really big one is coming.

And on top of it all is Turkey’s inflation, which stood at 33.5% year on year in July and is robbing the country of its reputation as a budget getaway.

In this, Turkey has an advantage: the all-inclusive model is the basis of the sun, sea and sand tourism.