A Leap in the Turkish Tourism Sector in 2019

The year 2019 witnessed a pounce in the tourism sector in Turkey with an increase in revenue by 17% and an increase in the number of visitors by 14.1% as Turkey focuses on further expanding this sector during the year 2020.

As Turkey attracts many tourists and investors who want to invest in Turkey, in addition to visitors who want to obtain Turkish citizenship by purchasing a property for sale in Turkey that is worth $ 250,000.

Turkey's tourism industry showed another prosperous year in 2019 with more visitors and higher revenues. Tourism revenues reached $ 34.5 billion in 2019, that is a record number, according to a report by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). This figure represents a 17% increase compared to sector revenue of $ 29.5 billion in 2018, according to the Statistics Authority.

Tourism Statistics in Turkey in 2019

• Average spending per person reached $ 666 in 2019, instead of $ 647 in 2018. Data showed that visitors spend more on food and beverages (about $ 1.1 billion), followed by accommodations ($ 1 billion) over the past year.
• TurkStat's statement said, "The percentage of foreign visitors who arrived to Turkey aimed to travel, leisure and sporting and cultural activities" was 73.6%, while Turkish citizens residing abroad, most of whom "came to visit relatives and friends", accounted for 61.7%.
• Turkey welcomed 51.9 million visitors last year with an increase of 13.7% over the previous year, which accounted for 86.2% of foreigners and 13.8% of Turkish citizens residing abroad.

Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism Reports

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced that the number of foreigners visiting Turkey increased by 14.1% year on year, and it exceeded 45 million visitors last year. Whereas, in 2018, 39.5 million international visitors came to Turkey.

Culture and Tourism Minister Mohamed Nuri Ersoy said that the country plans to receive 58 million foreign visitors and generate $ 40 billion in tourism activities during 2020.

 

Tourist Destinations in Turkey and Nationalities of Tourists

In 2019 Istanbul was the first destination for about 15 million tourists which represents 33% of the total foreign visitors in 2019. The city, with its beautiful tourist attractions and economic importance, attracts many visitors wishing to see the regions of Istanbul stretching from the Asian side to the European. It is followed by the city of Antalya, that has has a great view on Mediterranean, with 14.65 million foreign visitors last year. The third destination that reached the top was the northwestern province of Edirne, on the borders with both Bulgaria and Greece, where it received 4.3 million foreigners.

In terms of nationalities, the largest number of visitors came from Russia which represents 15.6% of all arrivals - about 7 million visitors, followed by Germany with 11.2% - or 5 million visitors - and Bulgaria with 6% - 2.7 million visitors.

Hotel Occupancy Rate Increased in 2019

• The occupancy rate of hotels across Turkey reached 67.6% in 2019 with an increase of 2.4% in comparison to the previous year, according to the Turkish Hotels Association (TÜROB).
• RevPAR sector revenue and average daily room rate ADR were the highest in three years in 2019, according to the Turkish Hotels Association.
• Hotel room revenue increased to 52.3 euros ($ 58) with an increase of 13%, while the room rate of ADR increased by 10.4% to 77.4 euros year-on-year in 2019.
• In Europe, the average hotel occupancy rate reached 72.2%, and the sector revenue for the available room was 113.3 euros last year, according to the report. Meanwhile, the occupancy rate reached 74% in the world famous tourist city of Istanbul and 65.7% in the city of Antalya that has a view on Mediterranean.