Turkey’s tourism revenue declines around 33 percent in third quarter as foreign arrivals plunge

ANKARA

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Turkey’s tourism revenue decreased by 32.7 percent to $8.3 billion in the third quarter of 2016 compared to the same period of last year, amid a dramatic plunge in the number of foreign tourists visiting the country, data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) showed on Oct. 31.

Tourists spent an average per visit of $686 in the mentioned period, according to data.

The number of tourists passing through Turkish border gates decreased by 30.7 percent to around 12 million compared to the same period of 2015, according to TÜİK data. Some 78.5 percent were foreigners and the remaining 21.5 percent were Turkish citizens who live abroad. 

Tourism revenue is key for Turkey in financing its current account deficit, and the country’s tourism revenue was around $31.5 billion last year. 

Meanwhile, the number of foreign visitors to Turkey dropped 31.9 percent to 20.2 million in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period in 2015, data from the Tourism Ministry showed on Oct. 27. 

The number of foreign arrivals to Turkey dropped in September by 32.84 percent to 2.86 million people, data showed.  

September marked the 14th straight monthly fall in the number of foreign tourists visiting Turkey due to several terrorist attacks, a failed coup attempt, and bilateral tensions with Russia. It was also the fifth consecutive month when the number of tourists dropped more than 30 percent. 

German tourists accounted for the biggest share in September, with 14.8 percent Germans visiting Turkey, through this number still fell 36.1 percent compared to the same month of 2015. 

The U.K. took second place with its 9.2 percent share, though its visitors fell by 35.5 percent in September. Tourists from Georgia took the third largest share in September with 7.8 percent, increasing 6.3 percent to 222,694 compared to the same month of 2015. 

Visitors from Russia declined by 60 percent in September, while taking a 7.3 percent of share in total visitors compared to a 12.4 percent share a year earlier. The share of Russian visitors in total increased from 3.3 percent in August. 

Ankara’s relations with Moscow began to improve in June, after months of tension following Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet on the border with Syria in November 2015.