Turkish city and port of Mersin, originally known as Mersina, is located in south-central Turkey. It is located 40 miles (65 km) west-southwest of Adana, near the very westernmost point of the Cilician Plain, bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The location of an undetermined ancient settlement is close to Mersin Turkey. To the west are the remnants of the Roman port city of Soli-Pompeiopolis. A community was fortified there as early as 3600 BCE and again during the period of Hittite supremacy (c. 1750–1200 BCE), but it was abandoned following the creation of Pompeiopolis, according to excavations in the Yümük Tepesi mound, 2 miles (3 km) north of the present-day harbour.
There were no hotels, motels, pensions, or day houses in Silifke district when the Russian construction workers at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), which is being built in Mersin’s Gülnar district, resided there. Russian employees at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) significantly boost the local economy.
Local tourists who prefer Taşucu, Atakent, Yeşilovack, and Tisan cannot find a place to stay, despite the fact that working Russians reside in all of the area’s hotels, motels, pensions, and daily rental homes.
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It was said that the amount of domestic tourists who visited the area on a daily basis and left had dropped by up to 80%. Although it can be challenging for local tourists to find lodging options, Ali Küçük, president of the Silifke Tourism Association, has asked investors to construct lodging in the area.
Stating that there has been a big decrease in the number of domestic tourists, Ali Küçük said:
“Before the pandemic, we could not catch the domestic tourists much. Together with the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, the Russians settled in our region. Russians stay in hotels, motels and pensions. We live in tourism for 12 months in Silifke. Our compatriots from the Russian and Turkish Republic States working at the power plant chose our region. We could not reach enough crowds in the 3-month period of domestic tourists. They wanted to come to our area, but they couldn’t come when they couldn’t find accommodation. Our domestic tourist rate in Mersin Turkey has fallen between 70 percent and 80 percent, and now those who come come and go every day. No accommodation. There are insufficient number of accommodations in Silifke. We invite investors to our region. We need accommodation.”