SMS Goeben

Russian tourists' bookings for holidays in Türkiye, especially in Antalya, have increased by 20 percent in the past few weeks compared with April and May, Turkish daily Milliyet has reported.

Russian holidaymakers had delayed vacation plans due to the ongoing war and elevated inflation which eroded their purchasing power. Russians were looking for alternative destinations to Türkiye.

Divers from the Coast Guard Command on June 7 discovered Türkiye's largest ghost net, estimated to have been in the sea for at least a decade, in the Marmara Sea and collected it to recycle.

Türkiye is the second cheapest holiday destination for German tourists after Albania, Recep Yavuz, from the Antalya City Council's Tourism Working Group, has said, citing a recent study by Germany's Federal Statistics Office (Destatis).

The study compares holiday destinations based on accommodation costs and daily expenditure.

Foreign tourist arrivals in Antalya slowed in the first half of May, Recep Yavuz from the Antalya City Council Tourism Working Group has said, adding that this was due to fewer visits by Russian holidaymakers.

Antalya saw a record number of foreign tourist arrivals in January, February, March and April this year. However, tourism activity appeared to have lost some momentum in May.

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.

Tourism companies and hoteliers in Antalya are seeking to lure millions of European pensioners, betting that the rising cost of living in the continent will make the province an appealing destination.

More than 1 million Germans have visited the southern province of Antalya since the start of the year, over-taking Russians after five years.

Türkiye's fourth drillship, Abdülhamid Han, will start its operations in the first half of August, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Sönmez has said.

The Abdülhamid Han is currently docked at the Taşucu Port in the southern province of Mersin, preparing for its mission.

Antalya, one of Turkey's major tourist destinations, targets to host more than 10 million foreign holidaymakers this year, Antalya City Council Tourism Working Group chair Recep Yavuz has said.

Foreign tourists have flocked to the Turkish province of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast to spend their Easter holiday.

In April 2020, only 905 holidaymakers arrived in the tourist hotspot, but in the first two weeks of this month alone, Antalya already welcomed 300,000 travelers, up from 178,000 visitors in the whole of April last year.