Dozens of Arab women, mostly from countries of Gulf area, in flowing chadors swagger through many of Istanbul’s most luxurious shopping malls, clutching bags of lingerie, shoes and toys, hordes of children in tow, one man in front, is a common sight in Istanbul these days.

The summer tourist season is in full swing in Turkey and Erkan Zengin, a store manager for an up-market Turkish jewellery company, has all the reason to be happy.

“Our foreign customers are mostly from Saudi Arabia. They have good taste in jewellery and usually go for the big rocks. ” indicating, that Arabs are the most generous spender among their customers.

Turkish Managers : Arabs are better spenders than Turks

A similar scene is repeated at a nearby leather shoe and jacket store, where a sales person can barely keep up with high-spending customers from the Middle East and Arab countries surrounding the Persian Gulf.

“They are not like Turks. They like a shoe, ask for their size, try it on, go to the cashier and payin american dollars. Turks on the other hand want to try on 20 pairs of shoes before making up their mind,” the clerk say happily.

Arab tourists flock to Turkey, to spend and to wed

“Our favourite customers are Arabs because of their quick decisions and high purchasing power.” Well maybe also because of their non-existent bargainn skills. Apparently Arab tourist do not have to bargain over prices, which is like a part of shopping culture in Turkey.

Muslim but non-Arab Turkey has become a hot holidays destination for Arab tourists and investors in recent years, emerging as a regional power in the Middle East under Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP government. AKP stands for ” Justice and Development Party.

Arabs and Turks : Arabs are impressed by turkish life style and Arab Spring

Arab interest in Turkish culture from TV soap operas, pop music and food to Turkey’s rehabilitation of its Ottoman history has helped Arab tourists flocking to Turkey.

Istanbul, the old imperial capital and one of the biggest metropolis in Europe, has become a popular wedding destination for Arabs.

Escaping blistering desert summers, Arabs can also take advantage of a growing sector in Turkey that caters to devout wealthy Arab Muslims — hotels where men and women have separate swimming pools and beach areas and alcohol is not served.

And with “Arab Spring” turmoil making visitors in the Middle East and in North Africa quite uneasy, stable Turkey is counting on its large Mediterranean coast and rich heritage to draw more visitors from Arabic countries than ever.

“The Arab Spring is positively affecting Turkey’s tourism revenues,” president of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, Basaran Ulusoy, stressed to Turkish media. “It made a positive contribution to Turkey’s perception specially in Arab countries.”

Data from the Turkey Ministry of Tourism indicates the number of tourists visiting Turkey raised by 14.56 % in the first five months of 2011 compared to January-May last year.

Turkey Tourism getting a boost from high spending Arabs

While Russians, Germans and British tourists are still at the top the list — most of them lured to Turkey’s cheaper all-inclusive packages — high-spending tourists from Arab countries have experienced the biggest percentage jump.

In May, tourists from Yemen were up 87%  from last year, while the increase in tourists arrivals from Saudi Arabia and Iraq was 79.3 % and 45.84 respectively.

This is a welcome boost to Turkey’s coffers, as the country struggles stop a widening current account deficit.

Tourism is a significant foreign currency earner in Turkey apart from foreign investments and aids to offset the widening current account deficit, which soared 77 % year on year to a whopping $7.68bn.

 

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