Tourists flock to luxury stores in Istanbul, queues appear outside stores

As Turkish Lira is in free fall, tourists in Istanbul form queues outside most of the luxury stores as the money they hold has more value than ever before.

A Middle Eastern tourist that arrive in Turkey last week with US$1000 in the pocket could exchange it for 5,000 Turkish liras. But today it exchanges for 6,500 Turkish liras.

Especially Middle Eastern tourists that known for their luxurious shopping habits form queues in front of stores such as Bvlgari, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel.

On Monday morning, the Chanel store at Bagdat Street invited customers into the store every 10-15 minutes because of the high interest.