UK visits to Türkiye rose by nearly a fifth during the first six months of 2024, the country’s tourist board has said.
UK tourists visiting Türkiye rose by 19% in the first six months of the year to reach almost 1.8 million.
The year-on-year rise from the country’s third largest source market came as overall numbers increased by almost 14% to 26.1 million.
Tourism revenues in the period grew by 9.3% to £18.5 billion as the average daily expenditure per visitor reached £76.
Russia was the country’s biggest market with more than 2.7 million travellers to Türkiye in the January to June period, despite the war in Ukraine. The number of German visitors exceeded 2.5 million in the half-year.
The major tourism hubs of Antalya, İstanbul, İzmir and Mugla were the most popular destinations.
Tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said that the first six months’ results confirmed Turkey’s commitment to its year-end target of 60 million visitors and £47 billion in revenues.
Nearly 21.6 million foreigners visited the country between January and June, Culture and Tourism Ministry data showed, up 10.3% when compared to the same period a year earlier.
Combined with the arrivals of Turkish citizens living abroad, the total arrivals in the six months reached 26.1 million, Mr Ersoy said, evaluating the data.
This marked a 13.9% surge when compared to the first six months last year, Ersoy informed and a 23.6% increase compared to 2019, often dubbed as a golden year for the tourism industry.
The surge in the number of arrivals in the first half extended the period of the positive trend that saw Türkiye end 2023 with a record of 56.7 million in arrivals and keeps optimism for achieving this year’s target of hosting 60 million visitors.
He also recalled Türkiye’s rapid post-pandemic recovery and said they expected an increase of 5.8% in arrivals at year-end, adding that the growth continues in line with targets.
In May, Ersoy outlined plans to attract 80 million tourists annually within the next 4 years, aiming to make Türkiye one of the top 3 tourist destinations worldwide. Currently, Türkiye ranks 4th in the world.