Turkiye's tourism income soars 122.4% in Q1

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Turkiye's total tourism income increased by 122.4% percent, year-on-year, reaching $5.4 billion in the first quarter of 2022, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) on Friday.

"While 76.5% of this income (excluding GSM roaming and marina service expenditures) was obtained from foreign visitors, 23.5% was obtained from citizens resident abroad," TurkStat said in a statement.

Turkiye welcomed more than 6 million tourists in the January-March period, an increase of 148.1% compared to the same period last year.

"While 76.6% of visitors were foreign nationals with nearly 5 million, 23.4% were Turkish citizens resident abroad with 1.5 million persons," it said.

In this quarter, foreign visitors visited Turkiye mostly for "travel, entertainment, sportive and cultural activities" with 52.1%.

The average expenditure per night of the foreigners who stayed overnight was $75, while the average expenditure per night of Turkish citizens resident abroad was $51.

Tourism expenditure also increased by 181.3% compared to the same quarter of last year and reached $665 million.

The number of Turkish citizens who visited abroad increased by 269.6% to 1.03 million during the same period with average expenditure was $640 per capita.