Tourism agencies that operate and are unionised both in Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have called for the TRNC to be excluded from the limitations put on travel instalment whilst paying with credit cards.

The head of the Association of the Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB) Firuz Bağlıkaya, voiced the sector’s expectation that package tours to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will be exempted from the decision taken by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency to limit credit card instalments for international tours.

Pointing out that the TRNC is a country that uses Turkish Lira, Bağlıkaya stated that the TRNC is a very important destination for Turkish tourism.

“The TRNC is a country where we are united politically, socially and economically. A citizen of Türkiye who goes to the TRNC spends Turkish Lira. Therefore, there is no foreign currency outflow for us. The removal of instalment payments for overseas tourism expenditures with credit cards with the regulation introduced by the  Agency can be understood within the scope of economic measures, but the exemption of the TRNC from this regulation is of great importance for the tourism sector both in Türkiye and in the TRNC” he said.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Tourism and Travel Agencies of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KİTSAB) Orhan Tolun stated that Türkiye is the most important market for the TRNC and expressed his concerns about the said practice.

“Only planes from Türkiye can land at Ercan Airport. We use Turkish Lira in the TRNC. We want the TRNC to be exempt from this instalment limitation” said Tolun.

He also emphasized that the airfares between the TRNC and Türkiye are astronomical and called for a ceiling price application to be placed between the two countries.