Turkish tourism sector rakes in cash in first quarter

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

DHA Photo

Turkey’s tourism revenues were boosted to nearly $5 billion in the first quarter of the year, with a 38.6 percent increase on the previous year, Turkish Statistical Institution (TÜIK) data showed.

The tourism income rose thanks to tourist numbers increasing by 18.7 percent, surpassing 5 million in total in three months.

Revenues have surged due to a sharp increase in tourists as well as their individual average expenditure, which was $982 per person.

While 72.5 percent of the income for the period was obtained from foreign visitors, 27.5 percent was obtained from citizens residing abroad.

On the other side of the equation, tourism expenditure, the expenditure of Turkish citizens resident in Turkey who travel abroad, jumped by 38.5 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year, at around the same level as the surge in income.

Turkish tourists spent $1.2 billion abroad in three months. In terms of the number of visitors, the number of Turkish tourists soared by 31.4 percent, reaching 1.6 million.

Turkey’s tourism revenues were $23.4 billion in 2012.