551 beaches and 23 Marinas throughout Turkey have been awarded the prestigious Blue Flag resulting in a third place finish for 2023, under the global scheme run by the Foundation for Environmental Education based in Copenhagen.
Initiated in 1987 and put into practise in 1993, the ‘Blue Flag’ scheme aims to award Beaches & Marinas with the award, as long as they follow a certain set of criteria which generally include sustainability, cleanliness, natural area protection, safety & disabled access, waste separation and education. In total there are over 5000 Beaches, Marina’s and Tourism Boats that have been awarded Blue Flag Status for this year, spread over a total of 51 countries.
Spain gained the top spot, with Greece in second and Turkiye in third – closely followed by Italy and France, but with so much work & investment being carried out in Turkiye it’ll come as no surprise that they are vying for the gold medal within the next few years to come.
Antalya ranked the highest in Turkey, and actually came second on the list overall with 231 of it’s most glorious beaches meeting the Blue Flag Standard. Five Marinas and 14 tourist boats also made the cut, achieving the reward. The Mediterranean resort of Mugla then came second, closely followed by Izmir, Balikesir, and Aydin.
Keeping up with the criteria is a difficult job however, and just because a beach has been awarded the Blue Flag status for one year, it doesn’t mean automatic status again the following year… the flag can be withdrawn, so it’s vitally important that work continues in the right fashion, especially as tourists continue to look for higher quality on their travels. It’s not just tourists that are affected however as expats looking to buy a property in Turkiye could also be more excited about the possibility of having a ‘Blue Flag’ beach within the area.
Good progress is being made and will continue to be made. There were 459 Turkish Blue Flag beaches in 2018, 519 in 2021 and now 551 in 2023. Three years ago Antalya 206 beaches with the Blue Flag, now it’s 231.
