Antalya welcomes over 6 million tourists

Since the start of the year, more than 6 million tourists have visited the province of Antalya, a major holiday destination on the Mediterranean coast.

Data from the local tourism authorities indicated that the number of tourist arrivals in the city between Jan.1 and Sept. 13 leaped 202 percent compared with the same period of last year.

In September, Antalya hosted some 758,000 tourists, whereas in the same month of 2020 a little more than 445,000 holidaymakers visited the city.

Antalya is very popular among both local and international tourists, particularly Russians.

Meanwhile, Russia announced on Sept. 13 it will increase the number of airports with flights to Turkey later this month.

Flights to Turkey will be resumed from the Russian cities of Pskov, Magadan, Murmansk, and Chita starting Sept. 21, the Russian government said in a statement.

On April 15, Russia had temporarily suspended regular and charter flights with Turkey due to COVID-19 concerns.

After a two-month break, Russian tourists started to come to Turkey again.

Russia imposed wide-ranging travel restrictions at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, many of which remain in force, but has gradually expanded the list of countries for air travel.

Russia will also resume passenger flights with Spain, Iraq, Kenya and Slovakia from Sept. 21.

The country's coronavirus task force said it had decided flights could resume after it had assessed the epidemiological situation in those countries.