THERE has been a significant rise in the number of bookings in Turkey made by British tourists for summer 2018, a leading tourism association has stated.

The number of bookings for next summer in Turkey has risen by 79 percent compared to last year, the Hotels Association of Turkey (TÜROB) said in a statement on Nov. 25, according to the Hurriyet.

Almost 150,000 British people have made an early reservation for next summer, read the statement.

Although there has been an increase in bookings from the U.K. at Turkey’s leading touristic destinations, Istanbul has seen a 33 percent year-on-year decrease, it added.

The number of arrivals from the UK to Turkey plunged to 1.7 million in 2016 from 2.5 million in the previous year, amid escalating security concerns.

The decreasing trend continued in 2017. While almost 1.5 million British people visited Turkey in the first nine months of 2016, this figure declined to 1.4 million in the same period of 2017, according to TÜROB data.

The most popular destinations for British people are now Italy, the United States, Greece and Cuba, read the statement, adding that Turkey remains in the top destinations list.