Higher euro, dollar, good for tourism, firm says

MUĞLA - Anatolia News Agency

According to Mehmet Ersoy, head of a local tour company, Turkish hotels may benefit from a high exchange rate. DHA photo

The Turkish Lira’s latest losses against the U.S. dollar and euro are in the interest of Turkish tourism, as most expenditures of Turkish hotels were mostly in liras whereas their main income was in foreign currencies, according to the head of a prominent company.

“As long as there is no second economic crisis in the world, the rise in exchange rates is in the interest of Turkish tourism,” said Mehmet Ersoy, board chairman of ETS Group, a leading travel agency in the Turkish market.

Most of the expenditures of hotels are fixed to the lira, he said, adding that the primary income for Turkish tourism companies still remains as foreign currencies, he said.

“Turkish tourism made a good start to the year due to the ongoing North African turmoil,” Ersoy said, adding that in May, especially Egyptian travel agencies launched discounted prices to attract tourists from the Turkish market. “Since Turkey is a stable country, still many people prefer Turkey.”

Having Internet sources to compare market prices, hotel rooms and their qualities online has opened up a fair competition platform for leading travel agencies globally, said Ersoy. “Each tourist [today] knows how much another tourist pays for the same service,” he said, adding that this will lead tourism agencies and hotels to offer the same price to all the guests no matter the where the guest comes from.