2.4 million tourists visit Antalya in five months

ANTALYA

More than 2.4 million foreign tourists visited Antalya in January-May, marking a strong 223 percent increase from a year ago, despite the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

In May alone, foreign tourist arrivals in the province, on the Mediterranean coast, lept 297 percent from a year ago to nearly 1.2 million people, according to data provided by the Antalya Governor’s Office.

The number foreign tourists visiting Antalya in the first five months of the year was well above the figures recorded in the same period of the previous two years, the Governor’s Office said in a statement.

In January-May last year, the province welcomed 747,000 foreign tourists, while in the same period of 2020 only 509,000 international holidaymakers arrived in Antalya.

At the start of the year local hoteliers were optimistic that this summer season would be busier compared to the past two years as countries started to relax COVID-19-related travel restrictions. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused concerns that tourist inflow from the two countries could be adversely affected by the war.

Data provided by local authorities showed that Germans top the list of foreign visitors in the first five months. From January to May, 596,000 German nationals vacationed in Antalya.

Despite the ongoing war, nearly 368,000 Russians visited the province, while Britons claimed the third spot. In the first five months of 2022, Antalya welcomed 282,000 tourists from the U.K.

Ukrainians, however, did not make it into the top ten list this year. Among the top ten list were Dutch, Polish, Israelis, Kazakh, Lithuanians, Iranians and Danish.