UPDATE - Turkey aims to become top 3 destination for tourists

UPDATES WITH MORE QUOTES FROM CULTURE AND TOURISM MINISTER

By Merve Aydogan and Mehmet Tosun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey is aiming to explore new markets in Far East countries, as part of its strategy to become a top three tourism destination, the country’s culture and tourism minister said on Thursday.

"We are determining three major strategies. One of them is to explore new markets in Far East countries such as China, India, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia,” Numan Kurtulmus told Anadolu Agency’s Editors’ Desk.

He asserted that the Far Eastern countries were "long forgotten" in tourism and said Turkey is aiming to "open up new doors".

“In India there is a 350 million middle-class population, which is an enormous power with newly flourished, great purchase value. In China, there is over 300 million middle-class population. Thus we will enhance our relations with these countries," he said.

Kurtulmus also reminded that it will be the "year of Turkey" in China during 2018 with 50 events planned.

As part of the new strategy, the country also aims to enter the tourism market via a variety of services such as launching joint cruise packages with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Cyprus, and Greece, the minister said.

Turkey is currently ranked sixth in the tourism sector and the country displays a performance that could place it among top three destinations in the next 10 years, the minister said.

"We will increase our support by 20 percent to some countries, where we could attract tourists from... Through the decision would be taken by the Cabinet in early November, we will allow early reservation opportunity for tourism operators bringing foreign tourists," Kurtulmus said.

"World economy is growing by 2.5 percent each year, while tourism sector is growing by 3.1 percent. In the next 10 years, tourism sector is likely to grow 3.9 percent when considering the current numbers," he added.

According to the recent estimates, the minister said, Turkey has received 26 million tourists in the first nine months and expected to receive a total of 31 million tourists by the end of the current year.

“In terms of income, it is approximately $21 billion in the nine months and we expect this to increase to $26 billion. This is a good development,” Kurtulmus said.

He asserted that tourism in Turkey would further enhance in 2018 and the country aims to reach the level of $50 billion income and 50 million tourists by 2023.