Over 21,000 foreign students receive education in Antalya

ANTALYA

More than 21,000 international students from 92 countries are receiving education in the southern province of Antalya, a tourism hotspot that is becoming a preferred choice for foreigners looking to move out.

Welcoming thousands of tourists every year as one of the most popular holiday destinations of the country, Antalya has also become the preferred place for foreigners looking to migrate.

Especially since the beginning of the Ukrainian-Russian War in February last year, the number of foreign tourists residing in Antalya has gradually increased. This situation is also reflected in schools in the province.

These international students study together with Turkish students to ensure their education is not interrupted.

Of the approximately 492,00 students receiving education in nearly 1800 primary and secondary schools in the province, 21,284 are foreign nationals.

While almost 4,000 children of foreign nationals come from Russia, the majority of foreign nationals residing in the city are Russians.

They are followed by Ukrainian students with about 1,000 children.

In addition, there are more than 20,000 insured employees from 130 countries in the city. The number of resident foreigners allowed for residence approached 200,000.

With the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia war, the southern province has become a preferred destination both for holidays and settling down for Russian and Ukrainian tourists.

In the first 10 months of 2022, Türkiye welcomed around 586,000 Ukrainian tourists, down 70 percent from the January-October period of 2021, according to the latest data from the Tourism Ministry.

Some 13.1 million foreign tourists visited Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast, in 2022, marking a 48 percent increase from a year ago.

January-November numbers for Antalya were above that of 2019 when the Turkish tourism sector saw a record number of foreign tourist arrivals.

Data from the provincial directorate of culture and tourism showed that Russians accounted for 23.5 percent of all foreign tourist arrivals in the first 11 months of the year, followed by Germans at 22 percent. Britons ranked third at around 9 percent and Polish tourists at 6 percent.

Russian tourist arrivals increased by 6 percent on an annual basis to 4.6 million in the same period.

Meanwhile, a Russian airline company, which suspended its international flights due to sanctions with the beginning of the war, made a flight from Moscow to Antalya after a long break.

Carrying 166 passengers, the airliner landed at Gazipaşa-Alanya Airport in the city.

With the resumption of these flights, the number of Russian tourists planning to settle in the city is expected to increase.