Four Turkish cities among top tourist destinations

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s Istanbul, Antalya, Edirne and Artvin are among the most visited 100 cities of the world.

In a list released on Nov. 7 by market researcher Euromonitor International in London, these cities are among the top destinations for tourists in the world.

According to the report, Hong Kong holds the title of the most visited city in the world for the eighth consecutive year, followed by Bangkok and London, which represents the most visited city in Europe and the only European city in the top 10 ranking, along with Paris.

Four Turkish cities appeared in the top 100 ranking: Istanbul, the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, the northwestern province of Edirne and the Black Sea province of Artvin.

Istanbul came 15th with over 9.2 million visitors in the list, Antalya 29th with over 6.1 million, Edirne 68th with almost 2.8 million and Artvin ranked 85th with almost 2.4 million.

International arrivals to Antalya and Istanbul have, however, declined considerably on the back of terror attacks and geo-political instability, it added.

Istanbul dropped four places in the global ranking, registering -5.8 percent arrivals in 2017. Nevertheless, Istanbul remained to be one of the top four European destinations along with London, Paris and Rome.

Antalya and Edirne also slipped down the ranking over security concerns, according to the report.

The only exception in Turkey is Artvin, which bucks the trend as it remains popular with Georgians.

Artvin is one of the top five best performing cities in Europe, as it is popular with Georgians, the report read.

The ranking is based on Euromonitor International’s research in 100 countries and is based on the number of international arrivals that spend 24 hours or more in a city.