No vacancy: North Aegean campsites at full capacity

EDREMİT

The occupancy rate of campsites on the Gulf of Edremit’s 145-kilometer-long coastline has hit 100 percent, according to a campsite manager and holidaymakers.

Campsites on the sea shore spanning from the Ayvacık district of the Northwestern Çanakkale province and the touristic resort town of Ayvalık in the Balıkesir province offer tourists a budget-friendly vacation intermingling the shade of olive trees, seaside breezes and sunshine. The gulf, named after Balıkesir’s Edremit district and enclosed by the Greek island of Lesbos, also enfolds on its shores ancient sites such as Assos, Lamponeia and Adramyttium.

The hotels and guesthouses in the resort towns of Küçükkuyu, Altınoluk, Akçay, Ören and Ayvalık have a combined bed capacity of 30,000. About 90 percent of them have been booked on average since the beginning of the summer. That is another reason for holidaymakers to opt for sleeping in a tent.

A night in a tent offered by the campsite managers costs around 100 Turkish Liras ($17.5), and it can be as little as 60 liras ($10.5), if you bring your own tent.

“All the tents on our premises have been occupied. We can only serve accommodation for people who have their own tents. We wish to provide an alternative and different holiday opportunity,” said Erkan Günbeyi, a manager of a camping site.

“The main causes of people going for a camping vacation are the desire to spend time in touch with nature and the more reasonable prices,” he said.

Holidaymaker Anıl Akça, from the nearby Bursa province, said that the roads were quite busy.

“The Assos area is untouched and very suitable for camping. I’m here to spend time in touch with nature. The weather and the environment are very nice,” he said.

Ercan Coşkundeniz, another holidaymaker from Bursa, said that camping vacation gives the chance see many places.

“This is our second stop. The area is very nice and untouched. We recommend it to everyone. It is possible to make a holiday in respect to nature and without polluting the environment. I hope we can hand down the next generations very clean sea waters, nature, olive groves and trees.”

The sale of goods in the camping gear section increased by 120 percent compared with last year, the head of the trading group Hepsiburada told daily Hürriyet on April 18.