Over 1.5 million Britons visit tourism hotspot Antalya

ANTALYA

More than 1.5 million holidaymakers from the United Kingdom visited the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya between January and October, making it the third largest group of foreign tourists after Russians and Germans.

The number of British tourists vacationing in Antalya rose by 20 percent compared with October last year, according to Kaan Kavaloğlu, the president of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers’ and Investors’ Association (AKTOB).

“The U.K. is an important market for us,” he said.

They will attend the World Travel Market London expo this week, which will provide some clues as to demand for Türkiye, Kavaloğlu noted.

For 2025, first the British and Germans and then the Turks started to make early reservations as of the beginning of October, he added.

The increase in the number of British tourists visiting the city is expected to continue in 2025, according to Ali Kızıldağ, manager of a 5-star hotel in Antalya.

“We are receiving bookings from the U.K. for almost every month of 2025 and this will even grow further,” he said.

British tourists would mostly vacation in the Aegean and Western Mediterranean resort towns, such as Bodrum, Fethiye and Marmaris but after the COVID-19 pandemic they started to come to Antalya as well, he added.

“In Antalya, we found a destination where hotels offer attractive all-inclusive deals, high consumer satisfaction, thus their demand has increased,” Kızıldağ said.

He predicted that annually 3 to 4 million Britons would arrive in Antalya in the coming years.

Meanwhile, more than 14 million foreign tourists, which will mark a new record, are expected to visit Antalya this year.