On Thursday, December 16, the Turkish national currency fell to historic lows in the exchange trading. The exchange rate dropped to 15.21 lira per US dollar, which is two times lower than in January this year.
In Ukrainian money, the lira is now worth UAH 1.67. “Our travelers, even those who do not have the highest income, can now feel like real rich in the resorts of Turkey,” says a travel agent living in Antalya.
She gives examples of prices: a full meal for four in a city restaurant will cost about 500 liras – 840 UAH, or about 210 UAH. per person. A snack in a cafe is 2–2.5 times cheaper. At a reasonable price, you can buy T-shirts – from 60 lira (less than 100 UAH), jeans – from 200 lira (340 UAH) and other clothes. “Prices in lira for everything rise literally every day, but their growth still lags significantly behind the dynamics of exchange rates,” the expert says.
Tourists can now significantly save on purchases and meals outside the hotel, but the cost of tours, according to experts, is unlikely to decrease. The point is that contract prices for hotels are pegged to the euro. Hoteliers do not exclude an increase in room rates – insignificant, within 3%. “Our energy costs, food purchases are growing. Since January, in conditions of high inflation, it will be necessary to increase staff salaries. 60% of costs – in Turkish lira, but the remaining 40% – in foreign currency, which will also affect the profitability of the business, “- said the owner of one of the hotels in Antalya.
Representatives of the Turkish tourism business expect a decrease in demand for domestic tourism due to the rapid drop in the income level of most Turkish citizens.
The hotel will try to compensate for the lack of occupancy by tourists from foreign markets. This suggests that by the next summer season, if the situation with the exchange rate in Turkey does not stabilize, hoteliers will still have to stimulate demand with special offers. However, Turkish experts are not yet considering such a scenario: according to their data, the results of contracting for the summer 2022 in the European markets – Great Britain, Germany and other countries – give reason to expect high hotel occupancy rates.