▲We have entered the Chinese Year of the Tiger, or, more exactly, Metal Tiger, a sign deemed auspicious for aggressive business undertakings. So it seems fair to expect that the pro-active, forward-leaning energetic efforts of the Bodrum Mayor and Council to bring more tourists and open new avenues for growth will bear fruit – in a positive way, hopefully. One such effort is to promote Bodrum as a place for some Turkish football clubs to establish training camps. A step in that direction was the match played between the U-17 national teams of Turkey and Poland in January but much investment is needed to attract professional football clubs, at least a couple of up to par football pitches with the necessary changing rooms etc. Another effort launched was Bodrum’s participation in the EMITT Fair where a 3-D publicity film about Bodrum was shown. To this should be added a €10 million investment in hotels being made by ETS, a large tour operator. ETS chairman, however, was reported as saying that if Bodrum expects to attract more foreign tourists and extend the season the town should cease to be a native tourism center. This advice will not go down well with many, including this publication, since we firmly believe in not putting all our eggs into one basket. Variety is what makes Bodrum attractive and it should stay so.
▼Recent gales and downpours have once again ;reminded all that great mistakes have been made in the past when building was allowed everywhere with total disregard for the need for water absorption by the earth or natural stream beds that provided proper drainage. Flooded streets disrupted traffic and many places suffered serious property damage, including sunken boats. This mayor promised to raze illegal construction and, to his credit, the city started to pull down unauthorized additions to buildings, but, in our opinion, much more radical measures are needed. A ban on additional construction should be considered and natural streambeds must be deepened and enlarged, razing all buildings that constrict the flow. We can’t do much to change the climate so we’ll all be keeping an eye on the mayor and city council so see if they are true to their election pledges.
☻Following the spate of activities surrounding Christmas, New Year, school mid-term holidays and Valentine’s Day there’s a bit of a slowdown, but there are a number of exhibitions (Genco Gülan’s sculptures at IDART Gallery, for example) and there’s a Scrabble Tournament (see inset) both in English and in Turkish starting on 25 Feb. at 15:00 hrs in Limoon Café Restaurant on Cafer Pasa Caddesi No. 10. Anyone wanting to take part is requested to register with Limoon (tel: 316-6465), Priscilla Windsor-Brown (tel: 316-7402) or Tony Marciniec (tel: 385-4785) before the beginning of the tournament..