Travel in Turkey

© Cyr0z

Two Turkey hotels could make their way to Expedia Insiders's Select List. The two hotels from Turkey have been listed because of their quality and value. Expedia customer reviews have ranked these Turkey hotels. 500,000 reviews are submitted every year, then verified and analyzed and Insider's Select list is prepared. Witt İstanbul Suites and Hillside Su in Antalya are the two hotels from Turkey at the 2011 list.

The winners of 2011 are the top 500 hotels globally and out of the more than 135,000 properties offered on the Expedia sites worldwide. Expedia Turkey Market Management Director Marilena Zagana commented "Insider Select scores are chiefly dogged by our customers. We hope to see more and more hotels from Turkey at the list every year."

© bazylek100

Western Anatolia is a region of Turkey that is often overlooked by those tourists who are on typical Turkey holidays to Istanbul, Ankara or Izmir. But for those travelers in search of the "real Turkey", this area inland from the coasts, due south of the Sea of Marmara and west of Ankara can be the perfect destination.

Towns like Afyon and the ceramics cetner of Kutahya attract fewer foreign tourists and offer real insight into modern Anatolian life. Safranbolu is one place in the region that does really well in terms of tourism, due to its designation as a world heritage site. Its lovely old Ottoman houses and boutique hotels draw big crowds, so its best to visit midweek if you want to avoid them. There are plenty of big, comfortable buses that ply all the main roads through Western Anatolia, but crossing form one settlement to another can be time-consuming because it involves more changes of transport then most would like.

© craigfinlay

Turkey tourism rose 31 percent in April to 2.29 million compared with the same month last year, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry. Germany provided the biggest source of growth, with Russia, the UK and France also fuelling numbers to Turkey tourism.
In the first four months of the year, Turkey tourism rose 21 percent compared to the same period in 2010, to 5.96 million. Antalya is set to host the World Travel Awards 2011 Europe Ceremony which will further boost Turkey tourism. Also Turkish Airlines has played a pivotal role in boosting Turkey tourism. This was reflected at the 2010 World Travel Awards when the national carrier was voted "Europe's Leading Airline Business Class", following a year in which it grew market share and continued to upgrade its fleet despite a backdrop of one of the harshest downturns in aviation history.