MORE than 120 tour operators take 1.8 million Britons a year to Turkey - with the low cost of living, ahead of Turkey's accession to the EU, a big attraction. But bookings for this summer have been hit by `bird flu' scares.
Major operators may have to trim capacity - but the smaller specialist firms reckon they can still hit their targets with quality accommodation in some of the quieter backwaters.
While Thomas Cook, First Choice, MyTravel and Cosmos say they are monitoring the situation, Undiscovered Turkey is a new brand from Serenity Holidays determined to avoid the mass market high-rise development and flying from Gatwick, Manchester, East Midlands and Bristol.
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Instead, it offers a hand-picked selection of villas, cottages, hotels and pensions among the unspoilt coastline and smaller character resorts of the Bodrum peninsula. Most of the programme is self-catering, and no hotels included have more than 25 letting rooms.
Says Undiscovered Turkey product manager Christine Mayne: "I worked in Turkey in the early 1980s, and I have tried to build up a programme to capture the charm of the country before mass tourism.
"We've got cottages in mandarin groves by dry river beds, a beautifully restored Ottoman tower, and stone houses in a hamlet on a mountainside where the local donkeys deliver your luggage."
With seven night stays from £299 for a seafront flat to £900 (boutique hotel), Undiscovered Turkey is taking on smaller, upmarket rivals like Simply Turkey, Hidden Escapes, Simpson Travel and possibly even Tapestry, which is not yet in the Bodrum area.
Says a spokeswoman for Turkey's Tourist Office: "Reported instances of bird flu are a thousand miles from tourist areas, and among people living with poultry in their houses. No traveller has ever caught bird flu in Turkey, and Turkey responded quickly to reports of the disease, by working closely with the World Health Organisation."
Tourist officials say the number of British visitors to Turkey rose 27% in 2005 - and confidently predict another increase in 2006.
Akin Koc, boss of operator Anatolian Sky, believes Turkey faces a bigger threat - the risk of £99 holidays, as big firms dump stock, which might "damage Turkey's image in the long term more than bird flu or terrorism."
INFORMATION: Undiscovered Turkey (0845 330 3535 and www.undiscoveredturkey.co.uk); Discover Turkey guidebook available from Turkish Culture & Tourism Office, 4th Floor, 29-30 St James's Street, London SW1A 1HB, tel 0207 839 7778 or www.gototurkey.co.uk
