Turkey may see silver lining in strong euro, FT says
Posted by meb at February 26th, 2009
The lira’s depreciation against the euro and the dollar will bring about positive results for tens of thousands of Turks who rely on tourism for their livelihood, the British economy daily Financial Times claimed yesterday.
Noting that the lira has fallen by about one-third against the dollar and nearly a fifth against the euro, the daily reported that this situation is creating a reason for Europeans to choose Turkey as their holiday destination, since foreign visitors will now be able to enjoy the same service with much less expense in Turkey.
The daily cited Ahmet Barut, chairman of the Turkish Hoteliers’ Federation (TÜROFED), who said being out of the eurozone has become an advantage for Turkish businesses, specifically tourism operators.
Despite these high expectations, however, bookings for Turkey’s tourism resorts have fallen this year. The latest figures from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism indicate that the number of foreign visitors entering Turkey in January dropped nearly 4 percent over the same month last year. Reservations for the summer are also hovering at lower levels compared to previous years. However, the daily predicted, citing analysts and officials, that visitor numbers will grow.
The FT report mentioned Turkey’s increase in the ranks of the favorite destination lists of British tourists, whose spending power with the pound has dramatically fallen in Europe and noted that the booking records of Britain-based tour operators TUI Travel and Thomas Cook both show rising demand for Turkey. Ian Derbyshire, chief executive of Thomas Cook, told FT that UK bookings for Turkey for this summer had jumped 25 percent over last summer, compared with a drop of 10 percent as a whole. He said Turkey was now enjoying the benefits of a strategy of “using its lower land and labor prices to develop big four- and five-star hotels offering all-inclusive holidays.”
source: Today’s Zaman
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