If you’re thinking of snapping up a buy-to-let holiday home in Turkey, now is a good time to act. This year Turkey bumped Spain off its number one spot as British destination of choice, as a strong euro once again made other eurozone sunspots a pricey option. Sean Tipton, spokesperson for the Association of British Tour Agents (ABTA) says: “Bookings worldwide were down by 10% in 2009 on the year before, and eurozone was particularly badly hit, down 12%. But two destinations went up considerably. One was Egypt and the other was Turkey, where bookings were actually up 16% on 2008 – and 2008 was a good year for Turkey. The most popular destinations were Bodrum, Kusadasi and Sidhe.”
“There I was, in the local café in Metamorfosi on a bleak winter’s evening, wondering whether I should return swiftly to London. The proprietor said something to the other villagers and they looked at me half in wonder and, I suspect, half in pity. What then followed was the most bizarre game of charades I have ever played, acting out: “I am the foreign idiot who spent a small fortune on a derelict cottage and now cannot get into it because the key is no longer in its hiding place and the builder has not arrived and I have nowhere to sleep and will somebody PLEASE HELP ME!”
If you’ve always hankered after a home in the Caribbean, take heart. White-sand bays and palms can be yours for less than an apartment in the Med, if you know where to look. Adventurous investors might take a punt on emerging markets like Dominican Republic, Aruba and Jamaica for some of the best value for money in this region. But if a little slice of luxury is more your style, glamorous tax havens such as the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands are now open to negotiations.
