Lira getting Stronger - Why?

[JohnF]

I wonder if the slight strengthening of the lira today has anything to do with the air strikes on IS positions? 

JF

[Colwyn]

Perhaps it was just a blip John. $ now on 2.75 (up 0.5%) and £ at 4.26.

[JohnF]

Yeah, I think so too now.  Seemed to strengthen a bit when the Turkish markets opened then bombed once everywhere else woke up.

JF

[Colwyn]

Well we've been here before, but it is still a milestone - £ passed 4.3TL. 

P.S. And later it hit a record 4.3237.

[JohnF]

And another unfortunate milestone this morning, 4.326tl to the GBP.  I think this an all time low against the GBP and the USD price on Monday (2.774) an all time low against the USD.

The great irony is that this makes Turkey an attractive place (financially) to visit from the UK but tourist numbers are falling (due to concerns over security?).  Hotel occupancy figures for June are just under 8% down on last year which is a similar downturn to the overall tourist figure (8.1% down).

JF

[usedbustickets]

John I think most of those overall Turkey numbers were down because of the Russians keeping away, which has hit Antalya and it's fancy 6 star hotels particularly hard apparently.  There still seems to be plenty of people around in both Calis and Hissy / Ovacik. A continuing example of the plucky Brit picking up a bargain in so called trouble spots.

Although perhaps not such a good bargain when you consider some of the 'staged' price rises some establishments have been hitting them with, particularly in Hissy/Ovacik.

[JohnF]

I don't disagree, the figures may be slightly skewed by the drop in Russian tourism and you're right, according to the stats Antalya has taken a hammering. 

That said, drops of 12.1% in Ankara and 7.9% in Istanbul, areas where the lack of Russians is going to be less noticeable must be concerning to the tourist organisations.

Not so sure the "plucky brits" will continue to flock to Turkey if the security situation begins to deteriorate - personally, I don't have a problem and if our girls decided to take advantage of the weak currency and jump over to our place for a week I'd say "crack on!".  However, folks I've spoken to in the UK recently, even those who have been to Turkey before, have all said they'd avoid Turkey just now.

The most annoying one was where three friends, who'd all been to Istanbul before (by way of excursions from Bulgaria), decided to cancel a late August break there.  I'd been telling them for years that they should spend longer than 24hrs as its a really special place and they'd have a brilliant time.  Doubt they'll rebook for a long time now.

JF

[JohnF]

Another unfortunate milestone when the markets opened this morning, over 4.34tl to the GBP and over 2.78 to the USD. 

Makes me wonder how THY are hoping to fund all these shiny new aircraft they were ordering a couple of years ago...

JF

[Colwyn]

Never mind, the lira will obviously get stronger when RTE bans the HDP who have been undermining the currency as well as all the other mischief for which they are responsible.

[Colwyn]

When I came back from Turkey last month I brought a 50TL note with me. It had cost me £12. A month later it is only worth £11.50. I wonder how much it will be worth when I return to Turkey next June. Any offers?