Inflation & Prices

Turkish Diners Fleeing 90% Restaurant Inflation Flock to Greece

  • Tourism industry says it’s lost price advantage over neighbor
  • Central bank concerned by sticky price rises in hospitality
A waiter serves customers at a restaurant by the sea in Halkidiki, Greece.Photographer: Konstantinos Tsakalidis/Bloomberg
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Restaurants in some Turkish holiday towns are sitting half-empty in peak tourist season, as many locals find it’s cheaper to holiday in neighboring Greece than stay and eat in one of their own country’s world-famous resorts.

Angry citizens have taken to social media to share their bills, including the equivalent of $640 for food and drinks for five people in Bodrum and $30 for five scoops of ice cream in Cesme. Meanwhile from Mediterranean Greek islands just a few kilometers away, their fellow Turks boast they’re paying far less than prices at home.