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.
“There’s a huge difference between the service and product quality, as well as prices here and there,” said Murat Yavuz, a retired Turkish banker who regularly visits Greece. “Restaurants here have used inflation as a pretext to push up prices.”
Restaurant and hotel prices rose by an average 91% in June from a year earlier, topping already eye-watering headline inflation of 71.6%. The sector constitutes a third of the services economy that the central bank has highlighted as a particular cause of concern in its fight against spiraling prices.
Isn’t Greece pushing a 6 day work week though? It’s certainly significantly better than Turkey’s but having to push that does not make it seem great.
Companies may offer employees a sixth working day for 40% more pay, 115% on Sundays and holidays. Maximum weekly hours are 48.
They’re saying it’s a push to combat overtime moonlighting and human trafficking (both an issue in Greece), from another perspective it makes their laws similar to the German ones. Modulo the 40% for the sixth day, our basic rules here are “max 8 hours a day and not on Sundays”, that’s also six days and also 48 hours. Short-term 60 hours are possible if the 24-week average still stays at 48.