Taj Mahal won't take dollars anymore

[donsu]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/17/world/asia/17fbriefs-dollar.html?_r=2&ref=world&oref=slogin&oref=slogin


India: Tourist Sites Refuse the Dollar


The Ministry of Culture has begun insisting that tourists visiting the country’s monuments, including the Taj Mahal, pay the entrance fees in rupees rather than in dollars. Entrance to many sites for foreign tourists is priced in dollars and then converted to rupees, but the ministry has been losing tourism revenue as the dollar slid more than 12 percent this year against the rupee. The government had fixed a $5 entrance fee for World Heritage sites like the Taj Mahal and Humayun’s Tomb and $2 for other monuments at a time when the dollar was worth about 50 rupees. It is now worth around 39 rupees. The new rate for Heritage sites is 250 rupees, meaning a foreign tourist will pay the equivalent of about $6.50.
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thank the neo cons

[Leopolds Ghost]

1. "Dollar slides against the rupee"

nuff said

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

2. well, since our money is going down hill

at least 250 rupees look neat





should I use an /sarcasm/? :sarcasm:

[Rosemary2205]

3. I TOTALLY disagree with the premise of this article.

They could just as easily take US dollars but raise the price to $6.50. It would seem the real issue is what banks are charging for conversion and India has just decided they don't want to hassle with it anymore.

Good on them. There's nothing wrong with India asking for Rupees.

[MadHound]

4. The trouble isn't just about conversion fees, it is about the drastically sliding dollar

Sure, they could charge $6.50, but the trouble is that most businesses only deposit their money once, maybe twice a week. With the rapidity of the dollar's slide, the value of that $6.50 has sunk a number of percentage points before you even walk in the bank door.

[Rosemary2205]

5. It's possible to compensate.

The business I work for takes payment by check from all over the world and most of those payments come in the money of that place, not in US dollars and is often months after the goods were actually bought. We price accordingly. We have done this long before the dollar was sinking.

And I expect big attractions like the Taj deposit daily.

Taj also used to take Euros and they don't anymore - which has nothing to do with a weak dollar. They now only take rupees. Good for them. India SHOULD be taking Rupees. Let the tourist convert.