(TAN): Foreign tourist arrivals to Turkey plummeted nearly 68% in March compared to the year earlier amid slowing travel demand across the globe caused by COVID-19.
International traffic to the country declined 67.83% to 718,097 in March 2020 from 2.23 million in March 2019, according to provisional data from Turkey’s Ministry of Tourism and Culture.
Of the total numbers, 52.10% or 374,101 overseas tourists visited Turkey primarily to explore Istanbul, its capital city. Edirne and Antalya drew similar traffic – they hosted 14.61% and 14.47% of the visitors respectively. Artvin followed with 9.07% and Kirklareli with 1.79% of the total arrivals.
Bulgaria accounted for the highest traffic in March – the neighbouring country sent 10.96% of all arrivals to 78,677. Bulgaria was closely followed by Russia with 10.91% of total tourists. Other countries that contributed most of the arrivals were Germany with 10.41%, Georgia with 8.73%, and the United Kingdom with 4.16%.
As a result of increasing travel restrictions all over the world, overseas arrivals to Turkey dropped in the January to March quarter of 2020. The country received 4.24 million tourists during the quarter, 22.11% less than the same period last year.
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The regions that welcomed most of the tourists during the first three months of 2020 were Istanbul with 55.52% or 2.35 million, Edirne with 12.75% or 540,261 and Antalya with 10.18% or 431,653 visitors. Artvin and Ankara followed with 8.25% and 1.92% of the total traffic, respectively.
Bulgaria again topped the list of foreign arrivals during the first quarter of 2020 – the Balkan nation made up 9.28% or 393,220 of the total arrivals. Other major contributors for the quarter included Germany with 8.41%, Georgia with 7.74%, Russia with 7.46%, and Iran with 5.19%.
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