Turkiye has once again revised its tourist arrival and tourism revenue targets for 2022 upward to 50 million and $44 billion, respectively, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has announced.
Tourism activity is strong in October, Ersoy said at an event in Istanbul, adding that this year’s figures will be close to that of 2019.
In 2019, Turkiye welcomed 51.7 million visitors and generated $34.5 billion in tourism revenues.
At the start of the year, the country set its targets for 2022 at 42 million tourists and $34 billion in revenues, but amid the strong rebound in tourism activity, Ersoy in July announced that those targets were revised upwards to 47 million visitors and $37 billion of revenues.
Depending on the December data, the revenue target of $50 billion for 2023 could also be revised, the minister said on Oct. 27. Turkiye is performing better than its competitors in the Mediterranean region, Ersoy said. “Tourist arrivals in Spain and Italy declined by 18 percent and 29 percent in the first seven months of 2022 compared with the same period of 2019,while the decline was 12 percent for Greece and only 7 percent for Turkiye,” he added.
Tourism revenues in those countries also declined over the same period, but Turkiye saw a 12 percent increase compared with January-July 2019, according to the minister.
Turkiye engaged in extensive promoting activities in 2022, Ersoy said, referring to the work of the Turkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA). “Promotion campaigns were held in more than 200 countries. Every destination Turkish Airlines flies to is a target [market]. We should be able to bring tourists from those destinations.”
Ersoy noted that due to the war, there have been significant declines in tourist visits from Russia and Ukraine, but those losses have been compensated by diversifying the tourism markets. “Our target is to attract 5 million tourists from the U.K.,” he said.
Foreign tourist arrivals in January-September rose by 98 percent from a year ago to 34.8 million. Including Turkish citizens residing abroad, Turkiye welcomed a total of 40.25 million visitors in the first nine months of the year
Turkiye’s tourism revenues in the third quarter leaped 27.2 percent from the same quarter of 2021 to $17.95 billion.
Meanwhile, hoteliers in Antalya are preparing special offers to attract European pensioners to the major holiday destination on the Mediterranean coast during the winter months. Some 152 hotels are taking part in the campaign, which also includes resort towns on the Aegean coast, such as Kuşadası, Bodrum and Marmaris, as well as the province of İzmir and Turkish Cyprus.
Five-star hotels are offering prices between 1,050 and 9,892 euros for an all-inclusive 56-day stay, while prices at two to three-star hotels for similar packages start from 511 euros.
Hoteliers are hoping that some of the 150 million pensioners in Europe, where energy prices are on the rise, would prefer to spend the cold winter months in warmer places such as Turkiye’s coasts.