Published on Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Tourists cash in as Turkish lira falls to record low

Travellers to Turkey have seen a huge fall in the overall cost of their trips after the lira dropped to a record low on Monday.

As a result, holidaymakers will now get twice as many lira for their pounds as this time last year.

The currency shift is expecting to fuel even greater demand for last-minute holidays to Turkey, which has seen an 84% increase in bookings via Thomas Cook alone this year.

The lira, which is the worst performing currency of 2018, fell a further 9.8% against the dollar, on Monday before recovering to end the day 6.5% down.

The pound is now 89% up on the lira compared to last August and 37% up on last month.

Turkey's financial crisis started earlier this year, but it has worsened in the last week due to a row with the US over Turkey's detention of an American Christian pastor.

On Friday, Turkish President Erdogan urged his supporters to convert their dollars and gold into lira to rescue the currency, while US President Donald Trump responded by doubling tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium.

The turmoil has shaken global markets, causing British shares to dip. European travel companies were particularly hard hit, with TUI posting the worst performance, ending the day 4.3% down. Thomas Cook lost 2.4% and easyJet was down 1.4%.