Türkiye is on course to meet the target of generating $56 billion in tourism revenues in 2023.
The country aims to welcome 60 million tourists this year.
“We are committed to our plan and will deliver on our promises: We will meet the $56 billion tourism revenues target,” Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Ersoy said.
Last year, tourism revenues amounted to $46.3bn, leaping more than 53 per cent compared with 2021.
The latest numbers suggest that Türkiye is on course to meet the foreign visitors and tourism revenue targets it set for 2023.
In the first seven months of 2023, more than 30m holidaymakers, including Turkish citizens residing abroad, visited Türkiye, which was higher than 26m visitors in the same period of 2019.
In 2019, the country welcomed a record number of 45m foreign tourists. Including Turkish citizens residing abroad, total tourist arrivals stood at 51.75m four years ago.
During January-July, foreign tourist arrivals rose by 16.2pc from a year earlier to 26.8m, with foreign tourist visits increasing 7.3pc year-on-year to 7.2m in July alone.
Türkiye’s tourism revenues increased by 27pc year-on-year in the first half of 2023 to $21.7bn, according to the latest data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK).
Türkiye ranked seventh globally last year, with international tourism receipts amounting to more than $46.3bn, rising from $26.6bn in 2019.
It was also one of the top 10 destinations in the world last year. With 50m visitors, it ranked fifth in 2020, climbing from the sixth spot in the previous year’s list.
The US was the top earner with $135bn in 2022, followed by Spain at $73bn and the UK at $68bn. Revenues of the UAE and France stood at $61bn and $60bn, respectively. Italy ranked sixth with $44bn in tourism revenues. France was the top destination last year, attracting 79m travellers. Spain came second at 72m, followed by the US at 51m.
In the first eight months of 2023, 33.4m foreign tourists visited Türkiye, marking a 14pc increase from a year ago.
International tourist arrivals globally fell by 34pc in 2022 from 2019 to 963m, while export revenues from tourism were down 34pc to $1.3 trillion, according to the UN report.
In 2021, revenues stood at $0.8 trillion, while international tourist arrivals were 456m.
The rebound in 2022 was driven by large pent-up demand and the lifting or relaxation of travel restrictions in a large number of countries, the report said.
The total loss in international tourism revenues is estimated at $2.6trn for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.
International tourism receipts (revenues excluding passenger transport fares) followed a similar trend, dropping from $1.5trn in 2019 to $0.6trn in 2020, a 63pc decline, according to the report.
Türkiye’s current-account deficit shrank by almost 90pc in August, as a boom in tourism helped offset a yawning gap in trade. The broadest measure of trade and investment flows with the outside world had a shortfall of $619m, compared with a revised deficit of $5.5bn in July.
Source: GDN Online