Why are hotels more expensive for Turks than for Brits?

As many issues, we are once again debating the 'nationality difference fee' applied to Turkish guests in hotels, albeit somewhat out of context.

Countries like Türkiye, engaged in mass tourism with low profit margins and high occupancy rates, resort to various marketing methods to increase visitor numbers and fill hotels. One of these methods is offering different prices to different markets. Hotels in Türkiye provide different prices to various countries for various reasons (such as being new to the market, low/high purchasing power in the market, stimulating demand in the market, etc.).

Although the situation has changed in recent years, it's common knowledge that prices offered to the Russia and CIS markets have always been higher than those offered to the European market. The same applies to the domestic market in Türkiye. Tour operators in these countries, struggling to secure capacity in Turkish hotels, have been forced for years to purchase prepaid guaranteed rooms at high prices.

Turkish citizen, who book holiday to Limak Lara Hotel through a UK-based portal because it's cheaper, is somewhat beyond this scope. At the core of the issue lies the continuous suppression of the currency in Türkiye.

Let's make this a little clearer. With the constant increase in inflation and costs in Türkiye, hotels have kept their price increases higher than necessary in the domestic market where they quote prices in Turkish Lira. Their expectation was that the foreign exchange would rise after a while and the price that they gave abroad would surpass the domestic price.

However, due to the long-standing suppression of the currency by the political administration, this expectation did not materialize. The prices offered to the domestic market by hoteliers remained higher than those offered to the foreign market. Therefore, the hotel also demanded an additional fee from Turkish customers. This practice is undoubtedly unfair and contrary to human dignity. However, the fee was charged not because the customer was Turk, but because they belonged to a different market.

At this point, there is a need for transparency in hotel prices in Türkiye and for ensuring price equality across markets. How can we justify offering different prices to a British citizen and a Russian Federation citizen staying at the same hotel, on the same dates, and under the same concept? This pricing policy not only damages our image but also leads to unfairness among customers.