Osman Ayık

Millions of people across Turkey have started to hit the roads during a 10-day public holiday for the Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) and Victory Day, which starts late on Aug. 25 and ends on Sept. 3.

In many tourism resorts, hotel occupancy rates have hit 100 percent.

Turkey's embattled tourism sector is pleased with the extension of a public holiday for the upcoming Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) to 10 days, during which around 1 million people travel and create 1 billion Turkish Liras in additional revenue for the sector. 

Turkey's struggling tourism sector wants to give a boost to the number of Turks traveling within the country and thus increase the share of local tourists in total numbers. 

A leading sector representative said there was a serious surge in numbers in this area last year, adding that the moves would continue to see a further rise. 

Around half a million Russian tourists visited Antalya after Russia lifted a ban on charter flights thanks to rapprochement between the two countries following a jet crisis last year, data compiled by Doğan News Agency has showed. 

With more than 700,000 local tourists flocking to Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean resorts, hotel occupancy rates hit almost 100 percent during the nine-day Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) holiday, according to sector representatives.