Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at July 14th, 2008

Turkey has dislodged Spain from its position as favorite British tourist destination, as the overvalued euro has rendered vacations in Spain quite costly, a recent survey has shown.

UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph published the results of the survey, which was conducted by independent travel group Cooperative Travel on 200,000 Britons.

The daily identified the new situation as a “seismic shift” in the way Britons make their bookings and reasoned that this change is a direct result of the economic crisis that began with the US-subprime mortgage market and then spread to Europe and beyond. Britain is one of the countries that have seen the greatest impact from this crisis. The survey revealed that the average cost of a vacation in Spain for a British tourist is 465 pounds whereas it is only 357 pounds in Turkey. The daily noted that Spain had been the most favored destination among Britons since the 1960s. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 28th, 2008

Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay has stated that Turkey hosted 23.3 million tourists in 2007 and will this year aim to reach this figure by the end of August.

Participating in the Antalya Heading for 10 Millionth Tourist gala, which was organized by the Mediterranean Tourist Hoteliers Association (AKTOB) in Antalya on Thursday, Günay said: “Today one of our cities, Antalya, has made hosting 10 million tourists annually an easy target to achieve. This shows what a bright, successful and beautiful future Turkey will have.” (more…)

Posted by meb at June 24th, 2008

Foreign visitor attraction to Turkey’s tourism center of Antalya continues to grow, leading to full hotel occupancy even at the beginning of the summer season, Mediterranean Tourism Hotels Union (AKTOB) Chairman Sururi Çorabatır has said.

Tourism growth has seen a remarkable acceleration in the last five months, and this growth continued in June, Çorabatır said, adding: “Antalya hotel occupancy rates are at the highest levels. Even finding a single room is difficult. We expect high occupancy to continue until mid-October.” The chairman underlined that seasonal occupancy rate peaks had already been reached: “Antalya has entered high-occupancy season. Not only five-star hotels, but other accommodation facilities are also expected to reach 100 percent occupancy soon.” (more…)

Posted by meb at June 24th, 2008

Amplio Real Estate Investment and Development Company, which was established with the objective of building 20 Hilton Garden Inn Hotels and Hampton Inn hotels with a total investment of $300 million, has decided to expand its business.

Amplio Company, which was satisfied with the potential in Turkey, increased its building objective to 40 hotels and its investment target to $1 billion. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 13th, 2008

Turkey has ranked fifth among 19 European countries and the US in terms of the cost of rental cars for UK holidaymakers in a new report by the UK Post Office’s travel services department.

The US came first, followed by Spain, Portugal and Netherlands.

Turkey is one of Europe’s cheapest destinations for UK tourists. It rated as the cheapest in car rental fees on the continent. High fuel costs, however, made it generally more expensive than the Eurozone trio of Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.

In its’ “Motoring on the Continent” report, the UK Post Office revealed that Switzerland is now the only major motoring holiday destination where unleaded fuel costs less than 1 pound per liter. However, the report places Spain as the best value in Europe for both diesel fuel and motoring in a rental car. At 1 pound per liter, it is also cheapest in the Eurozone for unleaded petrol. Prices are around 30 percent lower than in either Belgium or the Netherlands, which are popular motoring holiday choices for UK tourists.

The cost of unleaded petrol rose substantially in all of the countries surveyed over the past 12 months. Increases ranged from 20 percent in Italy and the UK to 32 percent in France. But although these figures make the much-debated rise in UK petrol prices look comparatively modest, the falling value of the pound masks the true position in Europe.

Florida is the most popular US summer destination for UK tourists, with its competitive three-day rental rates and low fuel costs. The cost of motoring puts Florida way ahead of its continental rivals — 40 percent cheaper than the lowest-priced European country for unleaded and 36 percent less for diesel fuel. Spain proved to be the cheapest in Europe, with petrol prices half of those in Greece, the most expensive country surveyed.

source: Today’s Zaman

Posted by meb at June 9th, 2008

According to the Financial Times on Sunday, Hilton Hotels Corporation will unveil two new developments this week. Hampton Inn, a budget inn business owned by Hilton, will open 30 more hotels in Britain and 25 new mid-market Hilton Garden Inns in Turkey. The total cost of the projects is estimated at $1 billion.

Hilton has agreed to a management deal with HLH, a property company specializing in the hotel sector, to open the UK sites. HLH will build and own the properties and Hilton will operate them. The new hotels, with a total of 4,000 rooms, are expected to open within five years. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 5th, 2008

Turkey’s convergence process with the European Union and macroeconomic stability should boost foreign interest in Turkish real estate, Akın Tüzün, head of Turkish equity research at Citigroup, said yesterday.

Speaking at the Turkish Real Estate Summit organized by The Association of Real Estate Investment Companies (GYODER) in Istanbul, Tüzün noted Turkey currently attracts around $3 billion foreign investment into the local real estate sector. “This is less than 0.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – a low figure as such if compared to Eastern Europe, and particularly to Spain, Portugal and Greece.” With close to $50 billion in current account deficit, Turkey needs substantial foreign capital inflow. As portfolio inflows and major privatizations slow down this year, Turkey has to attract foreign capital particularly in real estate,” Tüzün added. (more…)

Posted by meb at June 2nd, 2008

Turkey’s five-star hotel sector is booming. Indeed, upscale Turkish hotels have become important spots for national and international business travelers and holidaymakers — with İstanbul being almost shaken by a wave of new upscale hotel openings.

Frank Reichenbach, general manager of the Mövenpick Hotel İstanbul and the hotel chain’s regional manager for Turkey, describes what it is that makes Turkish cities attractive for a number of upscale international hotel brands. In an interview with Today’s Zaman he talks about the potential and difficulties of the Turkish five-star hotel sector and forecasts that “it is quality and service which will be the engine of the Turkish hotel business.” (more…)