Tourism in Turkey

Tourism in Turkey is focused largely on a variety of historical sites, and on seaside resorts along its Aegean and Mediterranean Sea coasts. Turkey has also become a popular destination for culture, spa, and health care.

Pamukkale in Turkey is a World Heritage Site.

At its height in 2019, Turkey attracted around 51 million foreign tourists,[1] ranking as the sixth-most-popular tourist destination in the world.[2] The total number fluctuated between around 41 million in 2015, and around 30 million in 2016.[3][4] However, recovery began in 2017, with the number of foreign visitors increasing to 37.9 million, and in 2018 to 46.1 million visitors[5][6][7]

Destinations

Istanbul
Dolmabahçe Palace is a popular tourism destination in Turkey.
Ortaköy Mosque and the Bosphorus Bridge

Istanbul is one of the most important tourism spots not only in Turkey but also in the world. There are thousands of hotels and other tourist-oriented industries in the city. Turkey's largest city, Istanbul has a number of major attractions derived from its historical status as capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. These include the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the "Blue Mosque"), the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapı Palace, the Basilica Cistern, the Dolmabahçe Palace, the Galata Tower, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar, and the Pera Palace Hotel. Istanbul has also recently become one of the biggest shopping centers of the European region by hosting malls and shopping centers, such as Metrocity, Akmerkez and Cevahir Mall, which is the biggest mall in Europe and seventh largest shopping center in the world. Other attractions include sporting events, museums, and cultural events.

In January 2013, the Turkish government announced that it would build the world's largest airport in Istanbul. The operation has an invested 7-billion euros and was planned to have the first part of a four-part plan completed by 2017.[8]

As a consequence of the continuous fall in tourism to Turkey in recent years, as of October 2016 in Istanbul's famous bazaar once crowded shopping streets are not as crowded as before, "the streams of tourists who used to visit the market each day have trickled to a halt."[3] The number of foreign tourists visiting Istanbul declined to 9.2 million in 2016, a 26 percent decrease compared to 2015.[9]

Other destinations
Ölüdeniz beach
Butterfly Valley, Fethiye

Beach vacations and Blue Cruises, particularly for Turkish delights and visitors from Western Europe, are also central to the Turkish tourism industry. Most beach resorts are located along the southwestern and southern coast, called the Turkish Riviera, especially along the Mediterranean coast near Antalya. Antalya is also accepted as the tourism capital of Turkey.[10] Major resort towns include Bodrum, Fethiye, Marmaris, Kuşadası, Çeşme, Didim and Alanya. Also Turkey has been chosen second in the world in 2015 with its 436 blue-flagged beaches, according to the Chamber of Shipping.[11]

Attractions elsewhere in the country include the sites of Ephesus, Troy, Pergamon, House of the Virgin Mary, Pamukkale, Hierapolis, Trabzon (where one of the oldest monasteries is the Sümela Monastery), Konya (where the poet Rumi had spent most of his life), Didyma, Church of Antioch, ancient Pontic capital and king rock tombs with its acropolis in Amasya, religious places in Mardin (such as Deyrülzafarân Monastery), and the ruined cities and landscapes of Cappadocia.

Diyarbakır is also an important historic city, although tourism is on a relatively small level due to waning armed conflicts.

Ankara has an historic old town, and although it is not exactly a tourist city, is usually a stop for travelers en route to Cappadocia. The city enjoys an excellent cultural life, too, and has several museums. The Anıtkabir is also in Ankara. It is the mausoleum of Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey.

Gallipoli and Anzac Cove – a small cove on the Gallipoli peninsula, which became known as the site of World War I landing of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) on 25 April 1915. Following the landing at Anzac Cove, the beach became the main base for the Australian and New Zealand troops for the eight months of the Gallipoli campaign.

Cappadocia is a region created by the erosion of soft volcanic stone by the wind and rain for centuries.[12] The area is a popular tourist destination, having many sites with unique geological, historic, and cultural features.

Development of tourism
Visa policy of Turkey
Uzungöl lake and town in Black Sea region
Statues of Mount Nemrut in Eastern Turkey
Hagia Sophia in Istanbul attracts around 3 million tourists each year.
Library of Celsus in Ephesus
Sumela Monastery in Trabzon

Foreign tourist arrivals increased substantially in Turkey between 2000 and 2005, from 8 million to 25 million, which made Turkey a top-10 destination in the world for foreign visitors. 2005 revenues were US$20.3 billion which also made Turkey one of the top-10 biggest revenue owners in the world. In 2011, Turkey ranked as the 6th most popular tourist destination in the world and 4th in Europe, according to UNWTO World Tourism barometer.[13] See World Tourism rankings. At its height in 2014, Turkey attracted around 42 million foreign tourists, still ranking as the 6th most popular tourist destination in the world.[2] From 2015, tourism to Turkey entered a steep decline.[14][15] In 2016, only around 30 million people visited Turkey. 2016 is described as the second year of huge losses on both visitor numbers and income, a "year of devastating losses", with Turkish tourism businesses stating that they "cannot remember a worse time in the sector".[3] The number of foreign visitors started recovering in 2017 with 37.9 million visitors being recorded. The recovery was partly due to intense security campaigns and advertising. The number of Russian tourists increased by 444% after the recovery of bilateral relations, resulting in Russia becoming the top tourism market for Turkey once again.[5][6] Increases were also recorded in the British, Dutch and Belgian markets.[16]

In early 2017, the Turkish government urged Turkish citizens living abroad to take their vacations in Turkey, attempting to revive the struggling tourism sector[17] of an economy that went into contraction from late 2016.[18] After the April 2017 constitutional referendum, another sharp drop in tourist bookings from Germany was recorded.[19] In 2018, however, the German Tourism Industry Association recorded a growth in German tourist bookings for Turkey, with a 70% increase being recorded by the TUI Group alone.[20]

Foreign visitor arrivals

Most tourist arrivals in Turkey are from the following countries of nationality.[21][22][23][24][25]

Rank Country 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
1 Russia 7,017,657 5,964,631 4,715,438 866,2563,649,003
2 Germany 5,027,472 4,512,360 3,584,653 3,890,0745,580,792
3 Bulgaria 2,713,464 2,386,885 1,852,867 1,690,7661,821,480
4 United Kingdom 2,562,064 2,254,871 1,658,715 1,711,4812,512,139
5 Iran 2,102,890 2,001,744 2,501,948 1,665,1601,700,385
6 Georgia 1,995,254 2,069,392 2,438,730 2,206,2661,911,832
7 Ukraine 1,547,996 1,386,934 1,284,735 1,045,043706,551
8 Iraq 1,374,896 1,172,896 896,876 420,8311,094,144
9 Netherlands 1,117,290 1,013,642 799,006 906,3361,232,487
10 Azerbaijan 901,723 858,506 765,514 606,223602,488
11 Poland 880,839 646,365 296,120 205,701550,779
12 France 875,957 731,379 578,524 555,151847,259
13 Greece 836,882 686,891 623,705 593,150755,414
14 Romania 763,320 641,484 423,868 357,473441,097
15 United States 578,074 448,327 329,257 459,493798,787
16 Israel 569,368 443,732 380,415 293,988224,568
17 Saudi Arabia 564,816 747,233 651,170 530,410450,674
18 Belgium 557,435 511,559 419,998 413,614617,406
19 Jordan 474,874 406,469 277,729 203,179162,866
20 Kazakhstan 455,724 426,916 402,830 240,188423,744
21 Sweden 444,285 384,397 289,134 320,580624,649
22 China 426,344 394,109 247,277 167,570313,704
23 Austria 401,475 353,628 287,746 310,946486,044
24 Italy 377,011 284,195 205,788 213,227507,897
25 Lebanon 376,721 338,837 237,476 191,642197,552
26 Kuwait 374,191 298,620 255,644 179,938174,486
27 Denmark 335,877 326,278 269,026 329,618408,841
28 Czech Republic 311,359 228,251 126,567 87,328212,464
29  Switzerland 311,107 269,649 206,479 215,194380,338
30 Turkmenistan 297,706 252,911 230,881 165,762174,330
31 Algeria 295,512 288,207 213,333 176,233171,873
32 Serbia 282,347 225,312 146,852 110,594178,997
33 Cyprus 268,341 266,859 256,059 233,181246,245
34 Libya 259,243 188,312 99,395 72,014234,762
35 Belarus 258,419 245,254 229,229 113,793204,355
36 Spain 257,342 178,018 106,757 106,582236,063
37 Uzbekistan 252,138 241,235 195,745 134,330143,331
38 Morocco 234,264 176,538 114,155 87,660109,775
39 India 230,131 147,127 86,996 79,316131,869
40 Lithuania 229,704 199,371 134,264 109,749112,654
Total 51,747,198 46,112,592 37,969,824 30,906,68041,114,069

Issues of Turkish government image in tourist origin countries

The reason for the fall in tourism is attributed to a general increase in political violence, political tension with Russia, and terrorist attacks,[26][3] and to the bad image that the increasingly authoritarian policies of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have given to Turkey.[27] As by Faruk Şen, head of the Turkish European Foundation for Education and Scientific Studies: "German tourists are not afraid of bombs; if fewer German tourists are now coming to Turkey, that is because of the country’s image. In Germany, if you say “I’m going to Turkey, this is now perceived meaning ‘I’m going to a dictator’s country.’”"[4]

After months of detention of journalists and political activists including foreigners in Turkey, the government of Germany in July 2017 issued a travel warning to its citizens.[28] It was also reported that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan had offered to release detained German citizens of Turkish descent in exchange for delivery of Turks who had been granted political asylum in Germany.[29]

Government policy and regulation

The AKP government has been promoting "halal tourism" for years,[30] politically reaffirming this stance over the course of 2016.[31] In March 2017, a Turkish court banned global travel fare aggregator website Booking.com from offering services to Turkish tourists for lack of a national licence,[32] while the Hoteliers Association of Turkey campaigns for a lifting the ban of the enterprise on which its members relied for up to 90 percent of their turnover.[33]

In April 2017, the police department of the prime resort city of Antalya issued a directive banning the consumption of alcohol outside of buildings.[34]

See also

References
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  2. "42 million tourists visit Turkey in 2014". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  3. "Turkey's tourism industry reels from a year to forget". The Guardian. 5 October 2016.
  4. "Turkish–German ties at historic low, says scholar Faruk Şen". Hürriyet Daily News. 21 November 2016. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019.
  5. "32.4 mln foreigners visit Turkey in 2017: Tourism Ministry". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  6. "Tourism in Turkey starts recovery". ITIJ. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  7. "DISTRIBUTION OF ARRIVING FOREIGN VISITORS - TOP 5 COUNTRIES (2016-2018) JANUARY-DECEMBER".
  8. Maierbrugger, Arno (25 January 2013). "Turkey plans world's biggest airport". Inside Investor. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  9. "Number of foreign tourists visiting Istanbul plunges for first time in 16 years". Hürriyet Daily News. 6 January 2017.
  10. Tilic, L. Dogan (5 April 2010). "Antalya: The Tourism Capital of Turkey". European Business Review. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  11. "Turkey rich in 'blue flags' – TRAVEL". Hürriyet Daily News. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  12. "Capadocia" (PDF).
  13. "2012 Tourism Highlights" (PDF). UNWTO. June 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  14. Kafanov, Lucy (19 August 2015). "Violence costing Turkey precious tourism, even far from the fighting". The Christian Science Monitor.
  15. "4.9 pct less tourists in Turkey in June". DailySabah. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  16. "It is now time for Turkey's tourism sector to raise revenue". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  17. "Erdoğan calls on citizens abroad: 'Come to Turkey for vacation'". Hürriyet Daily News. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  18. "Turkey's Economy Contracts for First Time Since 2009". The Wall Street Journal. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  19. "German travelers booking in Spain, Greece instead of Turkey: Association". Hürriyet Daily News. 21 April 2017.
  20. "Turkey hopes for German comeback". FVW. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  21. Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Turkey. "Number of Arriving-Departing Foreigners and Citizens, December 2016". Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  22. NUMBER OF ARRIVING-DEPARTING VISITORS, FOREIGNERS AND CITIZENS December 2017
  23. "DISTRIBUTION OF ARRIVING FOREIGN VISITORS - TOP 5 COUNTRIES (2016-2018) JANUARY-DECEMBER".
  24. "Tourism Receipts-Expenditures (2003-2019)".
  25. https://www.ktb.gov.tr/EN-249306/2019.html
  26. "Turkish 2015 tourism revenues fall 8.3 pct to $31.46 bln: Data". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  27. "Ahead of referendum, Europeans boycott Turkey and tourism suffers". USA Today. 15 April 2017.
  28. "Bundesregierung verschärft Reisehinweise für Türkei" (in German). DER SPIEGEL. 20 July 2017.
  29. "Erdogan soll Austausch von Yücel gegen Ex-Generäle angeboten haben" (in German). DER SPIEGEL. 20 July 2017.
  30. "Turkey sees rise in halal tourism". BBC. 25 August 2014.
  31. "How Turkey plans to boost halal tourism". Al Monitor. 9 May 2016. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  32. "Turkey has banned Booking.com but the website isn't backing down". The Independent. 30 March 2017.
  33. "Turkish hotelier association asks court to lift ban on Booking.com". Hürriyet Daily News. 6 April 2017.
  34. "Statement on alcohol ban in outdoor locations in Turkey's Antalya sparks debate". Hürriyet Daily News. 28 April 2017.
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