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Dalyan, a neighborhood in Muglu’s Ortaca district, now has a tethered hot air balloon service that lifts visitors above the area’s natural beauty, historic structures, and Caretta caretta, the scientific name of the loggerhead sea turtle, to boost local tourism.
A tethered balloon is a hot air balloon attached to the ground by a cable, so it rises and descends in one spot instead of drifting freely.
Mugla is a province on Türkiye’s southwestern coast.
The service, introduced in Dalyan, which is visited by thousands of domestic and foreign tourists every year, offers visitors the chance to see the area from the air.
Visitors to the region, which stands out for its roughly 2,500-year-old rock tombs, the Dalyan Canal and Iztuzu Beach, are expected to discover its natural and historic beauty from a different angle with a hot air balloon attached to a cable.
Mehmet Zahit Sunay, general manager of the aviation company that launched the service, told an Anadolu Agency (AA) reporter that they want to develop alternative tourism activities by taking hot air ballooning to different tourist regions. Anadolu Agency is Türkiye’s state-run news agency.
Sunay said that this year they launched “free flight” projects in the Seydikemer-Fethiye region and a “tethered hot air balloon” project in Dalyan.
Stressing that Türkiye has significant experience in hot air ballooning, Sunay noted that successful flights have been carried out for many years in various regions, led by Cappadocia, a region in central Türkiye famous for its rock formations and balloon flights.
Explaining that hot air balloons offer not just a flight experience but also help promote the natural and cultural values of regions, Sunay said such services also attract interest in international tourism.
Sunay said they aim to develop gastronomy and aviation tourism as well as coastal and nature tourism, and that hot air balloon services will offer visitors different experiences.
Noting that Dalyan stands out for its natural and historic richness, Sunay said the tethered balloon used in the region will rise to a height of about 30 meters in line with Civil Aviation instructions.
Saying that visitors will have the opportunity to see the area’s key points from a bird’s-eye view without much effort, Sunay said the aim is to let people watch the beauty of Dalyan from the air without tiring them too much.
“From this height, we want to show Lake Koycegiz, the rock tombs and the boats on the Dalyan River,” he said. “Under suitable conditions, we aim to let our visitors watch Iztuzu Beach from the air as well.”
After boat tours, visitors to the region get the chance to see the area from a different angle with the hot air balloon and discover its beauty.
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