More than 6 million tourists visit Antalya in 7 months

ANTALYA - İhlas News Agency

More than 6 million foreign tourists have arrived in the southern province of Antalya, one of Türkiye’s major holiday destinations, by plane since the start of the year

Foreign tourist arrivals in the city, which is located on the Mediterranean coast, increased by 107 percent between Jan. 1 and July 24 from the same period of last year, according to data provided by local authorities.

As of July 24, more tourists came to Antalya than the sum of the same periods of 2020 and 2021.

Some 9 million international holidaymakers visited the province last year when the COVID-19 pandemic still affected global travel and hindered tourism activities.

In January-July last year, the province welcomed nearly 3 million foreign tourists, while in the same period of 2020 only 682,000 international holidaymakers arrived in Antalya.

International tourist arrivals in Türkiye started to pick up this year after most countries relaxed travel rules as the COVID-19 situation improved.

According to the latest data the Culture and Tourism Ministry released, 7.4 million foreign tourists visited Türkiye in the first four months of 2022, rising nearly 173 percent from the same period of last year.

In April alone, foreign tourist arrivals grew 226 percent annually to 2.57 million people.

Turkish hoteliers are hopeful that the country will benefit greatly from the revival of global tourism activities. The U.N.’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reported earlier this month that tourism continued to recover at a strong pace in the first quarter.

“Globally, destinations welcomed almost three times as many international arrivals in the first quarter of 2022 as in the same period of 2021, with Europe leading the sector’s rebound,” it said.