Istanbul ranks ninth in world’s top destinations list

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

AFP photo

Istanbul took ninth place, and Antalya was ranked 11th in Euromonitor’s “Top 100 City Destinations” list, a report which monitors the number of international tourist arrivals has said.

Artvin, a Black Sea destination in Turkey’s northeast, was placed at number 100 in the list, which was released Jan. 29.

Wouter Geerts, a travel analyst at Euromonitor in London, noted that top cities like Istanbul and Antalya saw increased tourism in 2014 despite geopolitical tensions. He attributed the positive performance to continuing economic growth at key destinations.        

“Arrivals continued to grow in global urban centers in 2014, illustrating the economic importance of tourism to the world’s cities,” Geerts said.        

Hong Kong remained number one in the ranking, as it has been for the past five years, according to the report.        

London came next, while Singapore was third.        

Istanbul moved up two places to enter the top 10 at number nine, registering a 13.2 percent increase in the number of visitors to 11.8 million in 2014. The report noted that an increasing numbers of visitors are coming to Istanbul from the Gulf and other Arab states.

Antalya attracted 11.1 million tourists to its luxury resorts and famous beaches.

Artvin pulled in 1.8 million tourists in 2014, just behind Taichung in Taiwan.