Foreign tourist arrivals to Turkey drop 26 percent in October, though Russians returning

ANKARA

DHA photo

The number of foreign arrivals to Turkey dropped by 25.8 percent to 2.45 million in October, compared to the same month in 2015, temporary data from the Tourism Ministry showed on Nov. 29. 

This was the smallest shrinkage in foreign arrivals in the last seven months, as Turkey’s tourism industry struggles amid political and security concerns.

The number of foreign people visiting Turkey declined to 22.7 million in the first 10 months of 2016, a 31 percent drop compared to the same period of 2015, after a series of bomb attacks, a diplomatic crisis with Russia, and the failed July 15 military coup attempt. 

While the number of Russians visiting Turkey plunged 78.3 percent in the first 10 months of the year compared to the same period in 2015, the latest data has showed some recovery after bilateral ties between the two countries started to normalize. Russia again became the second largest source of Turkey’s foreign tourists in October, as some 222,719 Russians visited Turkey, representing a huge rise compared to the figures recorded at the peak of the diplomatic crisis. 

Germany again became the top source for Turkey, with more than 491,000 Germans visiting the country in October, despite an average 33 percent fall in arrivals from Europe. 

Georgia became the third largest tourist sender for Turkey, with more than 178,000 tourists visiting the country. 

In the first 10 months of the year, Germany, Georgia and the United Kingdom were the top sources of foreign arrivals to Turkey, the ministry’s data showed.