(Istanbul-NewsHalal-Muharram 3, 1436, October 16, 2015) According to data collected by the Turkyey`s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the number of foreign tourists vacationing in Turkey increased to 5.5 million in July, a 5.1 percent increase when compared to June.
While the number of foreign tourists decreased in three consecutive months prior, figures started increasing in July. However, this rise failed to exceed last year’s figure for the same period, 13.5 percent.
Turkey is mostly preferred by Europeans, especially by tourists from more affluent European nations. Due to an economic crisis in Russia, there was a roughly 30 percent decrease in the number of Russian tourists compared to previous years.
In the first seven months of the year, the number of French tourists decreased by 17.8 percent, Italians by 21.6 percent, Norwegians by 12 percent, Japanese by 31.5 percent and Russians by 21.6 percent.
Tourism revenues, which are crucial for closing Turkey’s current account deficit, have dropped by 13.8 percent to $7.7 billion in the second quarter when compared to last year due to ISIS and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
In 2014, Turkey’s tourism revenues, which were $46.5 billion, financed 53 percent of its current account deficit. According to the data announced by the Turkish Statistics Institute, while the per capita tourism expenditures were $911 in the first quarter, the figure dropped to $719 in the second quarter.
