German summer bookings for Turkey rise 70 percent

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Summer bookings to Turkey by German travellers have increased by 70 percent compared with a year ago, Europe's largest holiday operator TUI Group announced on Wednesday.

“After two years of decline, Turkey has again become a favourite destination for German holidaymakers, with a 70 percent increase in bookings at the start of the season,” the German tour operator said in a press release.

TUI group announced hundreds of extra flights to Turkey’s most popular tourist destination Antalya, and added almost 100,000 seats from German cities Hamburg, Hannover, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Nuremberg, Munich and Stuttgart.

Turkey has been one of the most popular travel destinations for German holidaymakers, but the number of visitors declined in the last two years, amid political tensions between Ankara and Berlin.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel in Goslar last week and discussed ways to improve ties between the two countries.