Firuz Baglikaya, President of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB), stated that they expect more than 17 million people to have visited Istanbul in 2023, and their new target is 20 million visitors.
In his written statement, Baglikaya pointed out the increase in the number of visitors to Istanbul and stated that they expect the city to close 2023 with over 17 million visitors.
Emphasizing that Istanbul’s tourism potential is very high, Baglikaya emphasized that the new target for the city is to reach 20 million in the number of visitors.
Baglikaya stated that Istanbul hosts visitors from more than 200 countries, and said: “The markets that sent the most visitors to Istanbul, which is a center for many countries, especially neighboring countries, in 2023 were Russia, Germany, Iran, the USA, the UK, Saudi Arabia, France, Italy and Iraq. Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Kuwait and Azerbaijan were among other important markets.”
Baglikaya stated that 97.5% of the visitors who came to Istanbul last year used air transportation and gave the following information:
“Istanbul Airport, which has a capacity of 90 million passengers per year, has made a great contribution to the city in terms of tourism. Istanbul Airport, with flights to more than 300 destinations, served more than 70 million passengers in an 11-month period. The second runway of Sabiha Gokcen Airport will give new impetus to Istanbul tourism. With the new runway, the capacity of Sabiha Gokven Airport will increase to much higher levels. These developments in the field of transportation are a very pleasing and important development for our Istanbul, which has nearly 3 thousand facilities and a bed capacity of nearly 250 thousand. In addition to accommodation facilities in Istanbul, houses rented for tourism purposes are also preferred by tourists. When these houses are included in the accommodation capacity, a very serious bed volume is created. Therefore, every investment made in Istanbul tourism is a major factor in increasing the visitor graph.”
“26% of cruise passengers visited Istanbul”
Firuz Baglikaya stated that Istanbul is also a very important stop in terms of cruise tourism, and that more than 392 thousand passengers came to Istanbul with 219 cruise ships in the 11-month period of 2023.
Emphasizing that, as TURSAB, they attach great importance to cruise tourism, Baglikaya said, “The opening of Galataport has a big share in the rise in cruise tourism. In the 11-month period, more than 1.5 million passengers came to 19 ports in our country with a total of 1167 ships. Approximately 26% of these passengers visited Istanbul. Therefore, Istanbul also has high potential in cruise tourism. As a union, we are carrying out studies that will enable us to utilize this potential.”
Pointing out that with the tram project they implemented, they carried the tourists coming to the cruise port to the historical peninsula without getting caught in traffic, Baglikaya stated that in this way, they both saved time for the tourists and supported the preservation of cultural heritage by reducing the wheeled vehicle traffic in the historical peninsula.
“Istanbul is the center of health tourism”
TURSAB President Baglikaya touched on the role of Istanbul in Turkiye’s great progress in health tourism and said:
“In Istanbul, the number of hospitals that received certificates from the Ministry of Health in the field of health tourism increased to 188, the number of medical centers increased to 79, the number of clinics increased to 1080, and the number of clinics and polyclinics increased to 435. Thus, the number of points where visitors coming for health tourism purposes can receive service in Istanbul reached 1782. The number of travel agencies providing services in the field of health tourism in Istanbul has increased to 590. According to these data, Istanbul is the center of health tourism and hosts thousands of health tourists every year.”
Emphasizing that Istanbul is Turkiye’s most important city of culture, art, shopping and gastronomy, Baglikaya stated that many concerts, exhibitions, artistic events, fairs and festivals are held in the city every year.
Baglikaya stated that Istanbul is at a very important point in the world in terms of educational tourism and that the number of foreign students studying in Istanbul alone is 97 thousand 821.
Pointing out that business, congress and short city tours are also on the rise, Baglikaya stated that they will continue to work with travel agencies to develop tourism all over Turkiye, as well as Istanbul, one of the most important destinations of Turkish tourism.
Source: Trthaber / Prepared by Irem Yildiz