Antalya broke ‘Turkish expatriates record’ last year

Turkish citizens living abroad have taken the fifth place after Russians, Germans, British and Poles who visited the southern province of Antalya the most in 2022, leaving behind the number of expats witnessed in 2019.

Türkiye has become the third country hosting the most tourists in the world for the first time, while Antalya is expected to rank among the top three tourist destinations worldwide.

In the famous touristic city, where nearly 13.5 million tourists arrived by air last year, Turkish expatriates, mostly living in European countries, occupy a critical place in the number of tourists in the city.

While 2022 was the year that Antalya hosted the most expatriates, Turkish expats ranked fifth among the tourists the city welcomed.

Approximately 682,000 expats visited the southern province in 2022.

Previously, the year in which Turkish citizens living in foreign countries preferred Antalya the most for vacation was 2019.

Recep Yavuz from the Tourism Working Group at the Antalya City Council described Turkish expats as "loyal visitors," stating that with a number approaching 700,000, Turkish citizens abroad constitute the fifth largest tourist mass.

"The arrivals, which were around 630,000 in 2019, increased to 682,000 in 2022, setting another record. This expatriate figure was also added to other records in the year of records for Antalya," Yavuz expressed.

"The young generation in Europe takes holidays under any circumstances and prefers Türkiye first," he added.

Providing information regarding the first four nations that visit the city the most, Yavuz stated that Russian tourists took the first place with more than 3 million visitors.

Germans followed the Russians with 2.9 million...