This year, Turkey is hopeful to attract 31.4 million tourists to visit the country at the same time tourism revenues to reach $26 billion mark, Tourism Minister Numan Kurtulmuş explained it on Dec. 19.
Also, Turkey has forecasts that over 35 million arrivals will take place in 2018, the minister told Turkish broadcaster AHaber.
In the middle of a string of terror attacks, followed by a failed coup attempt and a diplomatic crisis with Russia, the foreign tourist number entering Turkey plummeted to 25.3 million last year, down from 36.2 million in 2015 respectively. Almost 36.8 million foreigners in 2014 had visited Turkey.
The negativities cut the tourism revenue of Turkey in last year to $22.11 billion, down from $31.46 billion in 2015.
“We expect to close 2017 with 31.4 million tourists and around $26 billion tourism earning,” Kurtulmuş said, emphasizing that foreign arrival numbers in Turkey would probably to hit 35 million or more.
He also added by saying that tourism incentives would be provided on a 12-month basis rather than seasonal basis.
“Our aim is to diversify our tourism market. We’ll invite Chinese people, Indians, Indonesians and many others to enjoy a holiday in our country,” the minister added.
Turkey has witnessed a powerful rebound in arrivals of Russian travelers as its bilateral ties with Russia have been normalizing.
As per the data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) portrayed on Oct. 31st, in the third quarter of the year, the tourism revenue of Turkey showed a strong revival.
