Cappadocia scenes in Tadeo Jones boost Turkish tourism
Umut Erdem - ISTANBUL
The number of Spanish tourists visiting Turkey has soared after the 3D animated film titled “Tad the Lost Explorer and the Secret of King Midas,” which features scenes from the Central Anatolian historical region of Cappadocia.
In June 2018, the number of Spanish people visiting Turkey reached 12,269 with an annual increase of 64.2 percent, according to Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry data.
In the first six months of 2018, the rate of increase in the number of Spanish tourists was 66 percent compared with the same period in 2017.
The animated film about the adventures of Tadeo Jones, features Cappadocia for 23 minutes and 13 seconds, famous for its underground cities used by early Christians and fairy chimneys.
The film was seen by an audience of almost 3.5 million in Spain after its release in August 2017, bringing a box-office return of 17.9 million euros.
It won Best Animated Film at the 32nd Goya Awards in 2018.
16 million tourists in six months
Meanwhile, the total number of foreign tourists visiting Turkey in the first six months of 2018 was 15,968,001 with a year-on-year increase of 30 percent.
Russian tourists topped the list of foreign tourists with 2,378,439, while Germans followed by 1,560,251 people. About one million Iranian, one million Georgian, and one million Bulgarian visitors entered Turkey in the same period.
Turkey saw the biggest increase in tourists from Poland with 235,471 people and a 138 percent annual increase and 68,148 people from India with a 99 percent annual increase.
Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya recorded the highest number of visitors with more than 6.6 million in six months.
