Maritime Engineering and Ports II, C.A. Brebbia & J. Olivella (Editors) © 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-829-5 The conditions and problems of Turkish yacht tourism S. Incaz Guner& N. Guler Department of Maritime Transportation and Management Istanbul Technical University Maritime Faculty Tuzla/tstanbul/TURKEY Abstract The total length of coastal line of Turkey is 8300 km. Being a peninsula, Turkey is rounded by four seas as the Mediterranean, the Aegean Sea, the Marmara and the Black Sea. Turkish coasts are very proper for yacht tourism. Yachting tourism, being a part of maritime sector, tends to play a part in the tourist activities and provides important resources for the general economy. In order to increase the rate of yacht tourism within the general tourism infrastructure, investments, education, marketing and suitable encouragements are necessary. In addition to these, yacht tourism is an alternative way of investment instead of housing projects. Due to these, in this study the ways for improving the capacity of yacht tourism in Turkey will be considered by studying the routes of yachting in Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. Also the statistical figures related with Turkish yacht tourism will be analyzed. Since the improvement of the yacht tourism is important for Turkey, the conditions and problems of yacht tourism will be explained and as a conclusion, suggestions will be given for the further development of yacht tourism in Turkey in this paper. 1 Introduction Yacht tourism means the type of tourism which consist of "yacht management", "yachter", "yacht manufacture" and "yacht harbour". The phenomenon gains a social and an international character due to the yachts which travel to different countries and sail on the seas. Obviously, the share of Maritime Engineering and Ports II, C.A. Brebbia & J. Olivella (Editors) © 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-829-5 232 Maritime Engineering and Ports II country from this phenomenon is directed by the quality of the service supplied. Today, in the region which extends up to the Aegean coasts and the Mediterrenean coasts of Turkey there is a possibility of yachting more than 8 months a year. 2 Yachting tourism Yachting tourism, being within the scope of the travel mid tourism industry, is an economic activity integrated through the functions of the building industry, the accommodations and the travel organisation sectors, resulting in a service of sailing holidays [1]. 3 The concept of marina A modern marina can be defined as a collection of elemantary services such as [2]. * Basic services, like facilities for the harbouring of yachts, both afloat and ashore. * Peripheral services that, generally, cannot be enjoyed by the users unless they utilize the base service: toilets, and changing rooms, radio connections, car parks, electricity and water supplies, telephones, message service, mail, disposal of used of oil, rubbish disposal etc * Base-derived services, which are utilized by clients: boatyard, yacht club, fuel station, nautical and sailschools, bar-restaurant etc. * Complementary services are those that are added to the basic, peripheral and base-derived services in order to supplement the offer and differentiate a company from its competitors: laundry, ship suppliers, shops, supermarkets, etc. 4 Yachting tourism in Turkey Yachting in Turkey has started to developed at the end of nineteen seventies. Primarily yachting tourism, which consist of south and southwest shores of Turkey and known as "Blue Voyage", has began with the boats of the spong haunters which are deprived from comfort and luxury. Than these tours are being carried out by the boats which are called Bodrum Type Golets. The yachting has been initiated and progressed since the beginning of nineteen eighties by the government policy of subsiding the yachting and yacht tourism. 5 Characteristics of yachting in Turkey There are two types of marina ownership in Turkey While a group of marinas have been operated by the Tourism Bank, the other group of marinas are privately owned and managed. The yachting characteristics of Turkish yacht tourism are: * Togethernes of the " island", "lake" and "open sea" preferred qualities, Maritime Engineering and Ports II, C.A. Brebbia & J. Olivella (Editors) © 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-829-5 Maritime Engineering and Ports II 233 * Togethernes of the wind guarentee and security under wind, * Locational advantages due to being at the stoppoints of the courses of yachts departing from West going to east or North and * Possibility of reaching to antique cultural and historical values by the yachts. * The social side of the phenomenon takes form by the innumarable friendship established in coastal villages /bays due to "Turkish Hospitality" [3]. 6 Potentials of yachting tourism in Turkey Table 1: Statistics of Home Bounded Yellow Flagged Yachts Years 1995 1996 1997 Flag Commercial Private Commercial Private Commercial Private USA 24 119 24 131 16 153 Austria 23 51 31 92 15 80 Germany 79 310 80 384 51 411 Belgium 2 24 1 13 - 19 France 34 203 38 249 25 263 Holland 16 63 15 101 18 99 England 291 424 281 461 166 663 Sweden 11 35 4 40 2 40 Switzerland 7 59 1 55 - 69 Italy 14 97 7 123 3 97 Malta 11 18 12 26 4 31 Norway 4 9 1 7 2 12 Greece 126 82 101 119 60 92 Rest 151 293 71 323 29 392 Total 793 1787 667 2124 391 2421 Turkey 447 13 902 33 693 38 Grand total 1240 1800 1569 2157 1084 2459 Maritime Engineering and Ports II, C.A. Brebbia & J. Olivella (Editors) © 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-829-5 234 Maritime Engineering and Ports II The analysis in Table 1 shows the dominance of the European countries in the distribution of Home Bounded Yellow Flaged Yachts [4] [5]. 7 Yacht building industry in Turkey Yacht building industry in Turkey is being developed at the end of nineteen seventies. Yacht building industry in Turkey, are located mostly at Istanbul region and at some part of the Black Sea, Marmara Sea, Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Region. Only at Tuzla and Yalova near Istanbul regions 40 yachts are built in 1996 which 14 of them are exported. Turkish yacht builders reach a population of more than 100. Turkey's wooden yachts named gulets, are constructed by traditionally specialised, skilled craftsman mainly in shipyards in Bodrum, Bozburun, Marmaris and Istanbul. Gulets are 15-25 m. long are suitable for group travels. Fiberglass and steel builders are located mainly in Istanbul and Izmir. The yachts, which are built in Aegean and the Mediterranean Regions are usually being exported to Germany and Greece [4] [5]. 8 Development of the yachting fleet in Turkey Relevant statistics about yachting are being held by the general Directorate of Facilities of the Ministry of Tourism. Yearly statistics of home bound yellow flagged yachts, by flags and types are shown in Table 2 [4 ] [5]. Table 2: Yearly statistics of home bound yellow flagged yachts Number of yachts Years Domestic Foreign C* P* Y* C* P* T* 1988 327 110 437 925 2495 3420 1989 333 93 426 881 2253 3134 1990 696 212 908 600 2954 3554 1991 360 96 456 278 1576 1854 1992 538 46 584 921 1608 2529 1993 335 32 367 645 1949 2594 1994 395 16 411 593 2081 2674 1995 447 13 460 793 1787 2580 1996 902 33 935 667 2124 2791 1997 693 38 731 391 2421 2812 C*: Commercial, P*: Private, T*: Total In Table 3, the development of the number of yachts and beds, belonging to the registrated yachting facilities are shown [6]. Maritime Engineering and Ports II, C.A. Brebbia & J. Olivella (Editors) © 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-829-5 Maritime Engineering and Ports II 235 Table 3: Quantitative values of companies, registered vachts and beds Number of Number of Yachts Number of Beds Years Companies c* p* T* D* F* T* D* F* T* 1988 73 20 93 473 527 1000 4431 3816 8297 1989 83 24 107 544 623 1167 4964 4394 9358 1990 84 24 108 441 583 1024 4365 4102 8467 1991 88 19 107 460 403 863 4559 2846 7405 1992 93 18 111 481 525 1006 4971 3609 8580 1993 95 18 113 474 553 1027 5034 3732 8766 1994 99 15 114 524 498 1022 5401 3243 8644 1995 98 11 109 547 412 959 5567 2616 8183 1996 98 10 108 585 398 983 5905 2542 8447 1997 99 7 106 606 393 999 6071 2479 8550 D*: Domestic, F*: Foreign, T*: Total 9 Marinas and shelters in Turkey Table 4: Public and private marinas Public Marinas (Amount of yachts) Private Marinas (Amount of yachts) City Name Capacity City Name Capacity Antalya Kaleigi Marina 110 Antalya Kemer Marina 180 Antalya Ka§ Marina 110 Antalya Setur Marina 200 Aydm Ku§adasi Marina 637 Istanbul Atakoy Marina 1060 Bahkesir Ayvalik Shelter 100 Istanbul Kalami? Marina 524 Qanakkale Canakkale Marina 75 Istanbul Fenerbahqe Marina 750 Izmir Eski Foca Shelter 80 Izmir Ce§me Altmyunus Marina 100 Mugla Bodrum Marina 330 Izmir Iteka Marina 170 Mugla Marmaris Marina 1140 Izmir Levent Marina 70 Mugla Fethiye Shelter 150 Jylugla Goc.ek Shelter 190 Mugla Datc.a Gerince Shelter 23 Mugla lltur Marina 80 Topal ^2755 Mugla Iltur Club 160 Mugla Letonya Shelter 50 Jrfugla Bay-Marina Shelter 50 Mugla Albatros Shelter 40 Mugla Ekincik Shelter 20 Mugla Kormen Marina 246 Mugla Gocek 50 Mugla Bodrum Turban 125 Mugla Marmaris Netsel 676 Mugla Marmarin 200 total 4941 As it can be understood from the Table 4 the private sector marinas are more than public sector.