Istanbul, June 22 (IANS) Turkish people are mostly preferring a brief vacation during the Eid al-Adha holiday because of the nearly 40 per cent inflation, local media reported.
To give a boost to domestic tourism, this year’s Eid al-Adha holiday was extended to nine days in Turkey starting from June 24 instead of the traditional four days, Xinhua news agency reported.
But the majority of Turks are booking hotels for a five-night stay rather than the entire nine-day vacation, business daily Economy reported on Wednesday.
Bulent Bulbuloglu, a member of the board of the Turkey Hoteliers’ Association (TUROFED), was quoted by the daily as saying that the rising prices are affecting demand from local tourists, and people who see their income erode tend to go on holiday less.
Hotel rates increased by 80 to 100 per cent this summer compared to last year, according to TUROFED.
Due to the rising cost of living, people would rather visit their relatives during the holiday or stay at friends’ or relatives’ summer houses but not book a hotel, according to Hamit Kuk, a member of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies.
In the meantime, some citizens are getting bank loans to go on a holiday during Eid.
In a statement to Xinhua, loan calculator HangiKredi, an online platform that enables users to compare and apply for banking products, said the search for bank loans ahead of the extended holiday increased by 20 per cent.
“During the Eid al-Adha holiday, which was extended to nine days, the advantageous interest rates and campaigns of banks in holiday loans increased the applications of citizens who look for budgets to meet their holiday needs,” HangiKredi Director General Oray Durmazoglu said.
Turkey’s annual inflation fell to 39.59 per cent in May after hitting a 24-year high of 85.51 per cent in October last year, according to official data.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said his government’s priority would be to reduce inflation to single digits.
Turkey will raise the monthly minimum wage by 34 per cent to 11,402 liras ($484.08) starting July to protect the purchasing power of workers against inflation.
–IANS
int/khz/