Türkiye expects record tourism revenues in 2023

Around 6.2 million foreign tourists visited Türkiye in the January-March period, up from 4.9 mln foreign arrivals in the first quarter of 2022, Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has announced.

In March alone, Türkiye welcomed 2.34 mln foreign visitors, which marked a 12.3% increase from a year ago.

Russians topped the list of foreign holidaymakers. Some 773,000 Russian nationals vacationed in Türkiye in January-March, up from 361,000 in the same period of 2022. Bulgarians constituted the second largest group at 523,000, followed by Germans at 505,000 and Iranians at 472,000.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) reported on April 28 that the country’s tourism revenues increased by 32.3% in January-March compared with the same period of 2022 to stand at $8.69 bln. Per capita expenditure on average was $1,062, rising 4.3% from $1,018 in the first quarter of 2022.

Average expenditure per night also increased by 2.8% on an annual basis to $84. The average expenditure per night by Turkish citizens residing abroad was $69.

“While individual expenditures constituted $7.5 billion of the total tourism income, $1.18 bln came from package tour expenditures in the first quarter,” TÜİK said.

Earlier, Ersoy said that Türkiye aims to generate $56 billion in tourism revenues and attract 60 million foreign tourists in 2023. He noted that 51.4 million foreigners visited the country last year, and tourism revenues amounted to $46.3 billion.