Turkey expects to receive more German tourists

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Turkey expects to attract 5.6 million German tourists to the country this year, culture and tourism minister said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at ITB Berlin tourism fair, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy expressed optimism about attracting a record number of tourists from Germany in 2019.

“There has been a 58 percent rise in early bookings from Germany for Turkey,” Ersoy said, referring to the latest statistics.

He underlined that Turkey has again become a leading destination for German tourists, after decline in visitor numbers in 2016 and 2017.

“This year we are expecting around 5.6 million German tourists to visit Turkey” he said, raising hopes for beating the previous record of 5.5 million visitors in 2015.