A TOTAL of 300,000 tourists are expected to explore the city in the air by the end of 2017/

Hot air balloon tours in the sky of central Turkey’s popular tourism destination Cappadocia attracts 120,000 tourists in the first half of 2017 boosting tourism revenue in the region, according to tour operators’ body.

“120,000 people have explored Cappadocia from air in the first half of this year,” Yakup Dinler, head of the Cappadocia Touristic Entrepreneurs Association (KAPTID), told Anadolu Agency.

“The contribution to the economy of these 120,000 people was 18 million euro ($20.5 million approximately).”

The tourism body head expected that a total of 300,000 people would experience hot-air balloon tours by the end of this year which would see 40 million-euro ($45.6 million) income.

He said that following a bad year of Turkey’s tourism which was affected by several terror attacks and a deadly coup attempt in 2016, the tourism sector has entered to a recovery process in this year.

“There is a slight increase in the number of international tourists compared with the last year,” he added. Dinler said that there are 25 hot air balloon agencies in Cappadocia which provide job facilities for nearly 2,500 people.

He underlined the hot-air balloon tour price in Cappadocia was not as high as it is circulated or assumed. Almost all foreign tourists, mainly from the far-East countries find hot-air balloon prices very affordable.

Cappadocia, located in the Anatolian region of Turkey, is preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage site and is famous for its chimney rocks, hot air balloon trips, underground cities and boutique hotels carved into rocks.

To get the authentic experience, tourists from all over the world prefer to experience Cappadocia’s landscapes and peak-like rock houses up in the sky.