Tourists deal Turkey another blow

There is plenty of room to move inside Turkey's ancient monuments

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Turkey is in many ways a tourist's dream -- but with a legacy of bad news including earthquakes, economic crisis and political meltdown, visitors are staying away.

There is a great variety of natural scenery in Turkey -- from the snowcapped mountains in the east to the sunny coastal resorts in the west. But it might seem a rough neighbourhood to many tourists, bordered by Iraq, Iran and Syria.

With tourists still spooked by September 11, international terrorism and talks of war, the country wants to show the world it is not part of that crowd.

And at the moment there is room to wander around Istanbul's famous mosques. Lots of room.

After last September, hundreds of thousands of tourists cancelled their travel plans, most of them Americans.

A tourist official said: "American profile tourism is very different from other visitors to turkey."

Americans spend more, but now the low budget European tourist gets the best seats in the house.

The Turkish lira has plunged more than 50 percent in 18 months. Lunch can cost just a couple of dollars.

The coast of Bodrum was once a crowded tourist resort

One tourist said: "Expenses are relatively cheap. this is one of three reasons we travel here -- things are easy to pay."

Across the country, shopkeepers waiting for customers are even more willing than usual to bargain.

"There's no tourists -- there's no customers -- business is very bad," said one trader.

However, there is another huge cloud looming on the horizon -- a possible U.S. invasion of neighbouring Iraq.

But most tourists here seem unconcerned. "Turkey's a member of NATO.... why would I worry," said one.

There have been home-grown problems -- Istanbul has had the occasional bomb blast, hijacking and hostage-taking.

"There's always something brewing somewhere and if you let that stop you from going where you want to go you wouldn't go anywhere," said one tourist.

With so much brewing next door, that is precisely the kind of tourist Turkey wants.

But Turkey is not the only holiday destination in trouble this year. Greece has also seen a drastic fall in its amount of summer visitors.

According to reports from the Greek Institute of Consumer Protection (INCA), this could be due to a significant increase in prices after Greece became member of the euro zone, making other Mediterranean destinations relatively cheaper.

INCA reports increases of up to 200 percent on some goods, mainly in the restaurant industry, as Greek traders try to make up for the slow summer on the Greek islands.

-- CNN's Jane Arraf contributed to this report