Turkish tourist figures beat forecasts

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - After tough times due to the pandemic, Türkiye once again began to attract a huge number of tourists from all around the world.

The country hosted 9.5 million foreign visitors this January to April, leaping 27.5% on a yearly basis, according to official figures compiled by Anadolu.

Istanbul, Türkiye's largest city by population and a top tourist draw, welcomed over half of all foreign visitors, or nearly 4.77 million, in the four-month period.

It was followed by the Turkish Riviera city of Antalya with 1.6 million foreign tourists and then Edirne in northwestern Türkiye, which borders both Bulgaria and Greece, with 1.1 million foreign visitors.

As for the nationalities of foreign tourists, Russia took first place with 12.1% – nearly 1.15 million visitors – over the same period, followed by Germany (10.14%) and Bulgaria (8.37%).

Meanwhile, the number of tourists coming to Antalya by air reached 4.06 million from Jan. 1 through June 10, the city's governorship said on Sunday.

Kemal Sahin, the chairman of Sahinler Holding, which is active in the tourism sector, said the tourism figures in Antalya during the first five months topped 2019 – before the pandemic – when the country saw historic high figures.

In light of the current figures, Türkiye will likely close out 2023 at least 20% above 2019 figures.