Seven out of every 10 Turks unable to go on holiday due to cost of living crisis

Duvar English

The Consumer Association Federation has released its survey with regards to citizens’ preferences on vacation. Accordingly, there has been a rise in the number of people unable to go on holiday due to economic crisis. 

Some 71.76 percent of consumers reported not having the financial means to go on holiday, marking a 2 percent increase compared to last year, according to reporting by online news outlet Diken.

There has been also a decrease in the number of Turks planning to spend their vacation abroad. Some 3.13 percent of survey participants reported having plans to go abroad for holiday, while this figure was 4.1 percent last year.

A top executive of the Consumer Association Federation said that these data expose the deteriorating economic conditions of Turkey. “Consumers are putting an effort to meet their compulsory necessities, and due to inflation and increase in the foreign exchange rate, going on holiday has turned into a dream for several consumers,” said Yunus Emre Bitmez, the head of the federation’s “Working Group on Consumers’ Pulse.”  

“However vacation and resting is a constitutional right for every employee. The 50th article of the Constitution indicates this with the regulation of ‘Resting is a right for employees.’ The fact that millions of citizens are unable to use their constitutional right is a widespread rights violation,” he said.