NASA Earth Day post increases interest for Turkish tourism hotspot

MUĞLA

An Instagram story shared by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) last month showing a view of the famous Turkish touristic hub has excited the locals of the Ula district of the southwestern province of Muğla who have already been seeing a rise in interest toward the picturesque town.

On April 22 Earth Day, NASA posted a video from the Kadın Azmağı Stream in Akyaka village, a tourism hotspot that hosts around 1 million tourists annually, with the caption, “Wow. Take in the beauty of Akyaka.”

“NASA’s post mounted people’s interest toward Akyaka,” Ula Mayor Özer Türkler told Anadolu Agency on May 18.

According to the mayor, the number of daily visitors to the region increased after the post. “After the pandemic, we expect a tourism boom here,” he added.

Akyaka village, located in the Gulf of Gökova, has a winter population of 1,500 inhabitants, whose number doubles in the summers.

“The water of Kadın Amağı Stream is cold and drinkable. You can see the gray mullets and snakefish with the naked eye,” the mayor noted.