Restaurants in some Turkish holiday villages stand half empty during peak tourist season as many locals find it cheaper to holiday in neighbouring Greece than to stay and dine in their country’s world-famous resorts.
Angry Turkish citizens have taken to social media to share their bills, including the equivalent of $640 for a meal for five in Bodrum and $30 for five scoops of ice cream in Cesme, while on Greek islands in the Mediterranean just a few miles away, Turkish citizens have boasted that they are paying far less than in their own country.
“There is a big difference in the quality of service and products, as well as the prices,” said Murat Yavuz, a Turkish former banker who visits Greece regularly. “Restaurants here are inflating prices, using inflation as an excuse.”
Restaurant and hotel prices rose an average 91% in June from a year earlier, outpacing an already staggering 71.6% headline inflation rate. The sector accounts for a third of the services economy, which the central bank has highlighted as a particular concern in tackling rising prices.
An expedited visa program was launched in March to boost the exodus from Greece as part of diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between the long-time rivals. Turks are not the only ones flocking to the Greek islands: The influx of tourists from around the world has led Greece to consider imposing restrictions on cruise ships.
“We have lost our price advantage,” Kivanc Merik, head of the Turkish Travel Agents Association, told Euronews in an interview, citing an “overvalued” Turkish lira. Merik expects 150,000 Turks to visit the Greek island of Samos this year, up from about 40,000 in 2023.
The lira’s real effective exchange rate, a gauge of its value against foreign currencies, is at its highest level since late 2021.
Restaurants across the country are seeing their customers’ purchasing power decline. Kaplan Ilhan, 57, a chef at a fish restaurant in the resort city of Kusadasi, said his sales are down about 25 percent compared to last season. “The high cost of living is one factor, but rumors on social media that Greece is cheaper are also a big factor,” Ilhan said.
Big Chefs, a casual-dining chain with 128 outlets, is seeing an increase in total customer numbers. “The upper class is migrating to us,” said Chairman Gamze Cizreli. “But per capita spending is declining.” To combat the decline, he added, the company is cutting costs by generating its own electricity.
“Interest rates are at 50 percent, inflation is over 70 percent, people are in shock,” said Baris Tancevar, founder of Istanbul’s upscale restaurant Sunset Grill & Bar, adding that sales are down by about a quarter since last year.
Tansever said prices are now out of reach for the white-collar demographic he was hoping to attract when he opened his restaurant in 1994.
“We’re all getting poorer.”
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