(TAN): Turkey hosted a record number of tourists with 51.9 million people in 2019, up 13.7% from the earlier year, reports said.
Of this, 86.2% were foreign visitors – 45 million overseas tourists travelled to the country last year, 14.1% higher than the same period of 2018, as per reports. The rest – 13.8% were reportedly Turkish citizens living abroad.
As a result, Turkey’s annual tourism revenue reportedly surged 17% to USD 34.5 billion, creating a new record, according to reports.
While the average expenditure per capita increased to USD 666 in 2019 from USD 647 a year back, visitors spent the maximum sum on food and beverages and accommodation, reports said. The average expenditure per night for total overnight visitors was USD 68, with that of foreigners at USD 73 and Turkish citizens living overseas at USD 50.
In terms of purpose of visit, foreigners mostly chose entertainment and cultural activities while Turkish citizens residing abroad came to see their relatives.
“In this year, while foreign visitors came to Turkey mostly for ‘travel, entertainment, sportive and cultural activities’ with 73.6%, Turkish citizens resident abroad visited mostly for ‘visiting relatives and friends’ with 61.7%,” the Turkish Statistical Institute said.
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According to reports, hotel occupancy rate across the country went up 2.4% year-on-year to 67.6%. Istanbul clocked the highest occupancy rate with 74% while the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya posted 65.7%, a report said.
Istanbul also emerged as the top destination with nearly 15 million visitors, welcoming a third of all overseas tourists of 2019, as per reports. Antalya reportedly came next with 14.65 million foreigners, while the northwestern province of Edirne followed with around 4.3 million foreign visitors in 2019.
Russia reportedly sent the most visitors – 7 million people, accounting for 15.6% of all foreigners, followed by Germany and Bulgaria with 5 million and 2.7 million visitors, respectively.
