ANKARA, May 24 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Foreign arrivals in Turkey surged by 225.6 percent, year-on-year, to 2.57 million in Apr, the official figures showed yesterday, as the country is trying to recover from the impact of COVID-19.
The number of foreign visitors hosted in the Jan-Apr period this year increased by 172.51 percent to 7.47 million, compared to the same period last year, according to the figures from the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry.
In Apr, the highest number of foreign visitors was from Germany, with 395,372 people, followed by Bulgaria and Britain, with 270,997 and 225,296 people, respectively.
Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city and a major tourist destination, attracted 37.9 percent of all international visitors, while 25.7 percent of them visited the southern Antalya province.
Turkey is rebounding in its crucial tourism sector, as arrivals continue to gain pace, but the figures still fall behind the pre-pandemic level of Apr, 2019, when it attracted 3.3 million foreign tourists, according to the official data.
Turkey’s tourism revenue shrank by 70 percent in 2020, after garnering a record high of 34.5 billion U.S. dollars in revenue, in the previous year.
Turkey attracted a total of 30 million foreign tourists and achieved 24.5 billion dollars in revenue in 2021.– NNN-ANADOLU
