Antalya welcomes over 3 million tourists

ANTALYA

Antalya, one Turkey’s major holiday destinations on the Mediterranean coast, has welcomed more than 3 million tourists since the start of 2021.

Nearly half of the holidaymakers visited the city in July alone, according to a statement the Antalya Governor’s Office issued.

From July 1 to July 25, the holiday hotspot hosted around 1.5 million tourists, which corresponded to 48.7 percent of all visitors who arrived in Antalya since the start of this year. In the same period of 2020, only 165,000 tourists visited the city.

The statement added that after Russia lifted flight restrictions to Turkey, more than 547,000 Russian tourists came to Antalya on over 2,000 flights in July.

The long Eid al-Adha holiday also gave a significant boost to tourism activity in the province.

According to data from Fraport TAV Antalya Airport, between July 16 and July 25, more than 700,000 tourists arrived in the city via airplanes.

The airport hosted over 3,100 international and 684 domestic flights during this period, which brought in 596,000 foreign and around 112,000 local tourists, respectively.

Antalya’s Kemer district welcomed 200,000 visitors each day, including overnight stay, during the Eid holiday, said Volkan Yorulmaz from the Kemer Promotion Foundation (KETAV).

He, however, noted that the district is not fully realizing its potential particularly in terms of international tourism activity.

“But, considering the influx of domestic holidaymakers, the Eid holiday provided a much-needed respite to the local tourism industry and this activity will probably remain strong in August,” Yorulmaz said.

Hotel occupancy rates in the Alanya district has been at around 75 percent during July, according to Burhan Sili, the chair of the Alanya Touristic Hoteliers Association (ALTİD).

“We still see demand, but not as strong as the one we witnessed during the Eid holiday,” Sili noted.