The Guardian: Istanbul restaurants to change tune

The Guardian daily published an article entitled "Istanbul restaurants to change tune – and language – to woo big-spending Arabs" on Sunday, indicating that the menus in restaurants in Istanbul are getting a new look. "It's not so much the food that is changing but the languages, as more and more restaurateurs choose to include Arabic" the daily wrote, adding, "According to numbers published by the Turkish tourism industry, Arab tourists spent approximately £1,700 per person in shops and restaurants, nearly four times as much as western tourists. Shopping centers, one of the main attractions to many Arab tourists, have started to adapt their marketing strategies: Cevahir mall, where Arabs constitute 80% of all foreign shoppers, has put up a tax-free office at its entrance and organizes autograph sessions with Turkish actors, many of whom are very popular in the Arab world, owing to the success of Turkish TV series there," the daily wrote.