Domestic tourism spending sees rise in Turkey

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

Senior Turkish women selling handicrafts on street in Şirince village of İzmir province. (Photo: Alamy)

Domestic tourism spendings in Turkey rose 10.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2019, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) announced on Jan. 22.

Residents spent 23.3 billion Turkish liras ($4.1 billion) on trips in July-September, compared to 21.1 billion liras ($3.4 billion) in the same quarter of the previous year.

The third quarter data showed that tourists took 24.3 million trips, falling 2.9 percent on an annual basis.

Domestic trips with one or more than one overnights slipped 1.8 percent compared to the same quarter of 2018, standing at 31.9 million.

The average expenditure per trip was 731 Turkish liras (some $129) from July to September. 

"The highest increases were health expenditures with 36.1 percent, other expenditures (sports, entertainment, education, jewelry, gold, silver, carpet, rug) with 21.1 percent and accommodation expenditures with 14.3 percent," it said.

The primary purpose of trips was visiting relatives, accounting for a 60.5 percent share, followed by travel, leisure, and holiday with 33.8 percent, and health with 3 percent.