Tourism revenues fall in third quarter

ISTANBUL

Tourists leave a cruise ship docked at a port in the western resort of Kuşadası. Tourism revenues fell 4.1 percent in the third quarter, officials data show.

Third-quarter tourism revenues in Turkey decreased 4.1 percent compared to the same period last year, the official statistical agency, TÜİK, revealed yesterday.

 Revenues dropped to $8.96 billion in the third quarter from nearly $9.35 billion.

However, the number of departing visitors increased 3.7 percent compared to the same period in 2011. The average expenditure per visitor was $576, down from $623 in the third quarter last year.
Nearly 80 percent of the revenues came from foreign visitors, and the rest came from Turkish citizens residing outside of Turkey. Individual travelers spent some $6.8 billion, while package-tour expenditure provided $2.16 billion in tourism revenues.

Turkish citizens residing within the country spent less on tourism abroad. Expenditure on travel abroad fell 12 percent year-on-year in the same quarter to $918 million.

The average tourism expenditures of the 1.38 million Turks who traveled abroad was $666.