Holiday homes in Turkey are enjoying great interest as a result from the increased number of visits in the country. It is reported that the number of tourists visiting Mugla, one of Turkey's most popular holiday provinces, exceeded 2.5 million in the first nine months of 2005 while the figure was around 2 million in the same period last year.

“The number of foreign tourists to Mugla increased by 11 percent over last year,” Mugla Governor Hüseyin Aksoy reported.  Aksoy said 2,151,604 foreign tourists had arrived in Bodrum, Milas and Dalaman by plane while 415,503 foreigners entered the province by sea.

“In September alone, 486,708 foreign visitors arrived via air and sea transport,” the governor said. Aksoy added that the number of tourists visiting Mugla was expected to reach 3 million by the end of the year.

Britons constitute the majority of foreign tourists in Mugla at 40 percent, followed by Dutch, German, Belgian and Russian visitors.