Visitor numbers to museums, ruins hit 55 mln in 2023

ANKARA

Türkiye witnessed a 6.2 percent rise in the number of visitors to its museum and ruins in 2023, totaling around 55.7 million, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have shown.

The central province of Nevşehir, known for Cappadocia’s hot balloon rides and fairy chimneys, emerged as the city with the highest number of visitors, with some 4.7 people in 2023.

Following the central city, the western province of İzmir ranked second, with a total of 3.9 million people paying a visit to the city’s museums and archaeological sites during the year.

According to TÜİK data, coins made up the majority of the artworks in the country’s museums at 60.1 percent, followed by archaeological materials at 27.6 percent, ethnographic materials at 6.6 percent and tablets at 3.6 percent.

Payment for admission to museums and ruins affiliated to the Culture and Tourism Ministry brought in 2.6 billion Turkish Liras in 2023, data showed, with the number of museum cards sold by the ministry accounting for a total of 4.2 million.

The ministry’s Night Museum project, which aims to bring together Türkiye's unique historical places and rich cultural heritage with visitors in a completely different atmosphere after sunset, has played a vital role in the rise in visitor numbers this year.

As visitors now have the opportunity to visit İzmir’s Ephesus during nighttime hours within the scope of the project, a rising number of visitors have been flocking to the museum, according to Ephesus Museum Director Murat Kaleağasıoğlu.

“The number of visitors is rising further in 2024 compared to 2023. An important factor in this development is undoubtedly the night museum practice,” he said, stressing that the number of visitors has seen an uptick so far this year compared to the same period last year.