German tourists have found a new way to save on vacation in hotels in Turkey. They stopped tipping in Euros, just tipping the staff a handful of the devalued local lira. This was reported by the Turkish publication Turkiye Turizm.
According to Hasan Duman, the German president of the Antalya Belboylar platform, the depreciation of the Turkish lira against the euro was the main reason for such a change in the behavior of previously able-bodied vacationers, whose generous tips “fed” the service staff in the resort regions. However, now the situation has changed, Germans want to save. This change has a direct impact on the income of tourism workers, who used to receive a more valuable currency for themselves, but now have to deal with the national cheap lira.
“16 years ago, when Germany switched from the German mark to the euro, 1 euro was equal to 1.5 Turkish lira. However, the exchange rate has changed significantly now, and tourists prefer to convert their euros into Turkish liras at a more favorable exchange rate. German tourists who come on vacation are well aware of the current value of the Turkish lira about the EU currency,” the expert said, adding that vacationers from
Germans no longer leave as many euros as tips as before, preferring to give 50 Turkish lira instead of 5 euros. At the current exchange rate, 5 euros can buy 150 lira. Currently, the exchange rate of the euro is equal to more than 30 Turkish liras – this is an anti-record for the last 15 years.