Turkey ‘has potential to attract over 75 mln tourists’

ISTANBUL

Turkey has the potential to attract more than 75 million foreign tourists and generate at least $65 billion in tourism revenues, Naci Ağbal, the head of Turkey’s Strategy and Budget Directorate, has said.

“The government’s 11th development plan identifies tourism as one of the strategic industries, which is to receive special incentives and support,” Ağbal noted in a speech he delivered at the Tourism Investment Forum, held in Istanbul yesterday.

He underlined that the plan covers 2019-2023 projects, 75 million foreign tourists and $65 billion tourism revenues for 2023, saying: “I believe the tourism sector can overshoot all those targets...We have a huge potential and there is much to do in this industry.”

The development plan set out some strategies and targets for the tourism sector, such as the diversification of tourism activities, improvement in services, luring tourists with higher spending to the country and prolonging the tourism season, Ağbal said.

The latest data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) showed that Turkey’s tourism income jumped by 22 percent on an annual basis in July-September 2019 to $14.03 billion.

Foreign visitors on average spent $623 per capita during the period, according to the data.

In January-November last year, Turkey welcomed nearly 43 million tourists, a 14.3 percent increase on an annual basis.

Radisson’s new investments

On a related note Radisson Hotel Group has announced that it is preparing to open three more hotels in 2020 in Turkey.

Two of these hotels will be in Istanbul’s touristic and historic locations, and the third in the district of Aliağa in the Aegean province of İzmir.

“Radisson Hotel Group’s strong commitment to the Turkish market continues to grow with over 30 properties in Turkey,” said Elie Younes, executive vice president and chief development officer of Radisson Hotel Group.