Expensive beach access shocked tourists: Bodrum empty than ever before!

Expensive beach access shocked tourists: Bodrum empty than ever before!

The popular Turkish holiday destination Bodrum is faced with unusually empty beaches this year, which are particularly striking at the beginning of the 2025 summer season. The reason for the lack of tourists is a dramatic increase in prices for the beach access. According to a report by the local newspaper Muğla Postası have attracted up to 300 percent and thus reach historical maximum. This happens against the background that the high season in Bodrum usually begins with the Muslim sacrifice festival Eid al-Adha.

A day on the beach can now cost more than a third of the average monthly income, since entry to well -known beach clubs such as Buddha Bar Beach is up to 225 euros. Other beach clubs require about 10,000 Turkish lira (approx. 220 euros). This requires a significant part of the Turkish minimum wage of around 22,105 lira (approx. 600 euros) for a single day on the beach.

tourist declines and local reactions

The hotel occupancy in Bodrum is currently only around 60 percent, which indicates a noticeable reluctance when booking. Public beaches sometimes try to increase the number of visitors by offering free sun loungers. Neslihan Nazlıoğlu, the President of the Besiad Economic Association, commented critically about the excessive price increases and warned of their long -term effects on the local economy.

In the previous year, Bodrum set a record with over one million passengers at Milas-Bodrum Airport, which is an increase of 7 percent compared to the previous year. The region particularly enjoys the popularity among travelers from countries such as Great Britain, Russia, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands, with direct flights from cities such as London, Moscow, Berlin and Amsterdam.

A look at the general inflation in the tourism sector

The strong price increase in Bodrum is part of a larger trend in Turkey, which in January 2025 recorded the highest inflation in the tourism sector within Europe. According to Eurostat data compared to the previous year. In comparison, countries such as Spain, France and Italy had to make do with significantly lower increases of 5.6 percent, 3.9 percent and 7.5 percent.

The experts attribute the drastic increase in price to the rising costs of energy, personnel and food, which questions the competitiveness of Türkiye as a tourism destination. It remains unclear whether this high inflation will affect Türkiye's attractiveness for foreign tourists.