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Tourists rush to luxury shops in Istanbul to benefit from strong dollar
Tourists rush to luxury shops in Istanbul to benefit from strong dollar
Foreign tourists visiting Istanbul have flocked to the city’s shopping malls to buy luxury items as they want to benefit from the stronger United States dollar. Click through for the story in photos...
The greenback has gained more than 40 percent against the Turkish Lira this year. On Aug. 10 alone, the local currency’s drop against the dollar was as much as 18 percent. The lira traded at around 6.5 per dollar on Aug. 11 versus 4.65 on June 1 this year. The stronger dollar buys the purchasing power of tourists, particularly from the Arab countries.
The stores have not yet passed the costs of the stronger dollar onto their prices which make luxurious goods relatively cheaper for tourists. Potential buyers form long lines in front of stores selling luxurious goods and items such as Cartier, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton. Sometime they wait for 15 to 20 minutes in the lines just to get into the shops. The stores are not offering any bargains or discounts but this does not spoil the appetite of foreign tourists.
Visitors, particularly Arab tourists, show interest in expensive handbags, shoes, jackets, and accessories. Local stores and shopping centers enjoy the strong demand particularity on the weekends but on Aug. 11, Arab, Chinese and European tourists arrived at malls in the early hours for shopping. Foreign tourists not only boost the revenues of luxury shops but also the income of local brands and restaurants in the city’s shopping centers.
“A number of stores saw a significant increase in their revenues over the weekend. This was not limited to Istanbul and was also the case in some holiday resort cities,” said Sinan Öncel, the president of the United Brands Association of Turkey (BMD). “Strong demand from tourists has had a good impact on stores, from retailers to restaurants. Tourists buy both foreign brand names and local brands,” Öncel added.
Stores have not changed the prices of the products they sell in line with the currency moves and tourists greatly enjoyed this, according to Füsun Kuran, deputy president of the Registered Trademark Association (TMD).
The number of tourists visiting Turkey in the first half of 2018 surged 30 percent year-on-year, the Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister said on July 27. Some 16 million foreigners visited the country in the first six months of this year. (Credit: Ceyhun Kuburlu - Levent Kulu / Hürriyet)
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