According to ACI (Airport Council International) statistics, Antalya International Airport ranked as the second busiest terminal on the Mediterranean coastline in 2006 and 14th in the world in July 2007, with more than 10 million and almost 2.5 million international passengers, respectively, using the airport.

As the leading tourist destination in Turkey, with 40 per cent of all tourists that fly to the country disembarking at Antalya, it is little surprise that both British Airways and BMI are introducing flights to the city early in 2008.

Alanya, located 130 kilometres from Antalya is also set to become even more popular with tourists and those looking to buy Turkish property when the airport at Gazipasa, 33 kilometres from Alanya, launches an international service with a capacity of up to 500,000 passengers in mid-2008 (Source: TAV Airports Holding).

"While certain canny investors are already buying up property, we anticipate a heightened surge of activity once the airport opens," says Sean Gillic, MD of Turkish Property Invest. "Compared to many other popular holiday destinations, property in Alanya is inexpensive, with prices for a two-bedroom apartment averaging at 80,000 euros. Once people are here, holidaying in a safe, beautiful environment with a vast array of facilities, more often than not thoughts tend to the possibility of buying Turkish property and these prices make those thoughts a reality."

The area is already popular with Turkish property buyers interested in golf, scuba diving and skiing. Belek, a 20-minute car ride from the airport, already offers 11 championship golf courses, with an additional two due for completion next year, and visitors can also spend the mornings skiing in the Toros Mountains and the afternoons swimming in the warm waters of the Mediterranean in March and April.

Such variety has already attracted a fair share of foreign investment with 23 per cent of Antalya's real estate owned by overseas Turkish property buyers (Source: Today's Zaman). Increased flights and increased numbers of tourists – there were more than 200,000 visitors from England from Jan-Oct 2007 (source: www.altso.gov.tr) – is anticipated to impact on this percentage, driving the growth of investment and the potential of the Turkish property market.

Tourist figures in Turkey are on the rise with the resultant increase in 'tourist spend' up 8.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2007 compared with the same period in 2006 (Source: Turkish Statistics Institute).

Commenting on Turkey's potential for tourist growth, Volkan Simsek, Chairman of the Professional Hotel Managers Association, stated that Turkey has the capacity to develop into one of the top five holiday destinations in the world, in terms of visitor numbers and the revenue generated by the industry. "Turkey has the ability to earn $40 billion per annum from tourism, more than twice what it's making currently," said Mr Simsek.

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Article first published 3 December 2007