☻The Bodrum Branch of the Maritime Chamber of Shipping (DTO) announced the results of a coastal inventory study stating that out of 160 bays and coves located along the Turkish coast between Didyma and Antalya 90 are deemed to be unsuitable for yacht tourism. Few remain in their pristine state like the one in the inset. The primary reasons for this are given as an excess of coastal building construction and an invasion of fish farms. The degradation of the coastline as a tourist attraction is evident to anyone with eyesight even without a detailed study, and the DTO would serve the public interest much better by publicizing full details of the study (pictures and locations of every studied bay and cove) rather than just appealing to the emotions by name-dropping of the super-rich celebrities who charter yachts for “100-150 thousand US$ per day” to visit here and who may be disinclined to visit again if the coastline loses more of its original natural beauty. We will relate to our readers the full worth of the inventory study when we get a chance to review it – in the meantime, the problem is serious but it deserves more than just emotional rhetoric.

♥The Flea Market (Bric-a-Brac/Jumble Sale) held in Bitez and announced in our previous posting was a resounding success in spite of the bad weather that flooded the Bodrum peninsula. The receipts from the sale are reported to be over 2000 YTL even though many items remained unsold due to limited attendance blamed on the storm. The proceeds are earmarked for animal welfare, which will benefit many local cats, dogs and maybe other species and we are sure that some accounting will be provided to the public when disbursements have been made.

♠The global economic crisis which fills the media has spread a shadow of fear over many Bodrum business people who expect a downturn in tourism in 2009. The fear is evident in views expressed in local e-media where some native merchants have already began proposing that the public stop patronizing the big super/mega markets and support their small neighborhood shops. The idea would have some appeal if these suggestions included binding promises to provide a selection of products equal to those offered by the chain stores and reduce prices to their level. Economic fears bring protectionist proposals.