Antalya

With the countdown beginning and people preparing to ring in the New Year, tourism hotspots across Türkiye are quickly filling up as travelers seek unique and memorable ways to celebrate the occasion with special festivities.

The European Cross Country Championships began on Dec. 8 at Dokuma Park in the southern province of Antalya, bringing together 607 athletes from 39 countries in one of Europe's premier athletic events.

Hosted for the first time in Türkiye, the championship features seven events across multiple categories, with athletes competing in distances tailored to their age groups.

Newly imposed international sanctions on Russia, combined with existing sanctions, could affect the flow of Russian tourists to Türkiye, according to Firuz Bağlıkaya, president of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB).

Türkiye is one of the favored destinations of Russian holidaymakers with the Mediterranean province of Antalya standing out.

Türkiye is becoming an increasingly popular destination for German holidaymakers, and the country tops the list of early bookings for the 2025 summer, according to tourism group TUI.

In the first 11 months of 2024, foreign tourist arrivals in the Mediterranean province of Antalya hit 16.6 million, which marked an all-time high figure for the popular holiday destination.

Heavy rains are set to sweep across Türkiye this week, with Istanbul bracing for downpours and flash floods expected to hit the southern province of Antalya and the southwestern province of Muğla, as a cold snap tightens its grip on the country.

Foreign tourist arrivals in Türkiye increased by 7.03 percent year-on-year in January-October to 47.3 million, according to data from the Culture and Tourism Ministry on Nov. 22.

Including Turks residing abroad, 54.6 million visitors came to Türkiye in the first 10 months of 2024.

Türkiye has become a popular destination for British golfers, according to U.K.-based golf tourism agency Par5 Escapes.

Co-founder Abdullah Hazar told state-run Anadolu Agency that 5 million of Europe's 10 million golfers reside in the U.K., making Türkiye a key market for British golf tourism.

The Kestros Fountain, believed to have been built by Roman Emperor Hadrian in the second century, has started flowing once again in the ancient city of Perge in the southern province of Antalya.

Ormana, a quaint village perched at the summit of the Toros Mountains in the southern province of Antalya, has earned a spot on the "Best Tourism Villages 2024" list by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).