Turkish resorts have been hit by another problem with tourists, caused by inflation and high prices. Indeed, troubles never come alone: not only is the number of tourists, both domestic and foreign, decreasing in Turkey, but the remaining tourists are spending money much less willingly, which is why local merchants are starting to go bankrupt.
“If earlier foreigners came to Turkey for shopping, now Turks go shopping in other countries,” the Turkish press assures. Moreover, it cites the following figures: if the share of shopping in the total expenses of foreigners coming to Turkey has decreased from 5.3% to 3.8%, the expenses of Turks traveling abroad have increased by 112%. At the same time, the number of foreigners who said they came to Turkey for shopping fell by 8 percent from January to June,
“Turkey has become more expensive than abroad due to high inflation rates in the recent period, which has led to a loss of purchasing appetite among both locals and foreign tourists,” local experts noted. At the same time, the volume of purchases that foreigners pay for with credit cards remained low.
The number of visitors to stores has also decreased. According to tourism data for the first half of the year released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), the number of foreign tourists who declared shopping as the reason for their arrival fell by 8 percent to 1 million 736 thousand. The share of tourists coming for shopping in the total number of tourists fell from 9.6 to 5.4 compared to the previous quarter. Retail spending by tourists remained below the overall growth rate and increased by 9.4 percent, from $7.5 billion to $8.2 billion, rising to billion dollars. During this period, foreign tourists spent $4.7 billion on food and drinks, $2.6 billion on clothing and footwear, and $904 million on souvenirs. Long-term tourists who moved to Turkey also spent less.