Number of marinas in Izmir to increase

IZMIR (A.A) - January 30, 2012 - Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim has said that the number of marinas in Aegean province of Izmir would increase from 6 to 23. The region will be turned into an attraction center for yacht tourism, Yildirim told AA on Monday. Noting that there were over one million yachts in the Mediterranean basin, Yildirim said that 85 percent of those yachts moored up at marinas in France, Spain ad Italy, adding that Turkey's share was not even one percent. Thus, we have focused on building new marinas in recent years, said Yildirim, adding that they increased yacht capacity from 9,000 to 17,300. We will increase the number of marinas from six to 23, and yacht capacity from 1,965 to 7,765 in Izmir, said Yildirim.