Türkiye among world’s top tourism earners: Report

ISTANBUL

Türkiye was one of the world’s top 10 tourism earners in 2022, according to a recent report published by the U.N. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), looking at the impact of the pandemic on international tourism.

Türkiye ranked seventh globally last year, with international tourism receipts amounting to more than $41 billion, rising from $26.6 billion in 2019.

It was also one of the top 10 destinations in the world last year. With 50 million visitors, it ranked fifth in 2020, climbing from the sixth spot in the previous year’s list.

The U.S. was the top earner with $135 billion in 2022, followed by Spain at $73 billion and the U.K. at $68 billion. Revenues of the United Arab Emirates and France stood at $61 billion and $60 billion, respectively. Italy ranked sixth with $44 billion in tourism revenues.

France was the top destination last year, attracting 79 million travelers. Spain came second at 72 million, followed by the U.S. at 51 million.

In the first eight months of 2023, 33.4 million foreign tourists visited Türkiye, marking a 14 percent increase from a year ago.

Türkiye aims to host 60 million tourists and generate $56 billion in tourism revenues this year.

International tourist arrivals globally fell by 34 percent in 2022 from 2019 to 963 million, while export revenues from tourism were down 34 percent to $1.3 trillion, according to the U.N. report.

In 2021, revenues stood at $0.8 trillion, while international tourist arrivals were 456 million.

The rebound in 2022 was driven by large pent-up demand and the lifting or relaxation of travel restrictions in a large number of countries, the report said.

The total loss in international tourism revenues is estimated at $2.6 trillion for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.

International tourism receipts (revenues excluding passenger transport fares) followed a similar trend, dropping from $1.5 trillion in 2019 to $0.6 trillion in 2020, a 63 percent decline, according to the report.