Tourism in Turkey

The number of Russian tourists visiting the Mediterranean resort of Antalya rose to 1.1 million in the first six months of the year, up from only 25,000 in the same period of 2016, data from Antalya Airport has showed. 

The number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey soared by 1.384 percent in May compared to the same month last year, pushing up total foreign arrivals to the country, official data showed on June 29. 

The number of foreign tourists visiting Turkey saw a huge increase in April, with the number of arrivals from Russia jumping around 485 percent, after months of difficulties amid a series of negative incidents, from bomb attacks to a diplomatic crisis with Russia and a failed coup attempt.

A top Turkish hoteliers association has said around 4 to 6 percent of increase is expected in arrivals from the Middle East to Turkey over this year, particularly ahead of and after the holy month of Ramadan. 

In a written statement on May 5, the Hotels Association of Turkey (TÜROB) said there is demand especially for health tourism from the region. 

The year 2016 was a year of loss for tourism, a key sector in bringing in robust income for Turkey. Nothing will recover the sector overnight, but we could see a gradual recovery if the sector takes some crucial steps in several areas.

The number of tourists visiting the Mediterranean resort of Antalya saw a sharp rise in April with a 40 percent increase since the same month in 2016. 

The arrivals from Russia soared 15.5 times during the period, data from the Antalya Governor's Office showed, Doğan News Agency reported on May 2. 

Turkey's tourism revenue regressed to $3.4 billion in the first quarter of the year with a 17.1 percent of year-on-year decrease, amid continuous decline in the number of foreign arrivals, data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) showed on April 28. 

Turkey has become the largest tourism destination for Ukrainian tourists as almost 75 percent of 1.5 million Ukrainian tourists that travel overseas visit Turkey, according to a leading Turkish tourism association. 

Russian tourism representatives have called for the launch of cruises between Sochi and Istanbul in a bid to further revive tourist ties in the Black Sea, a leading Turkish sector association has said.     

Another key demand from Russia was the maintenance of security and safety measures for Russian tourists visiting Turkey. 

The number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey soared around 96 percent in February compared to the same month of 2016, although arrivals from Europe continued to decline, official data has shown. 

According to preliminary data released by the Tourism Ministry on March 30, some 39,261 Russians visited Turkey in February.