Number of Russian tourists visiting Antalya decreases 41 percent

ANTALYA

Number of Russian tourists visiting Antalya decreases 41 percent.

The number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya decreased by 41 percent in the first two months of the year, much higher than the overall decrease in visitors to the province of 2.9 percent, according to data from the Association of Mediterranean Tourism and Hoteliers of Turkey (AKTOB).

The dramatic decrease in the number of Russian tourists compared to last year is mainly thought to be a result of the economic problems in Russia.

Some 234,000 tourists visited Antalya in January and February this year, a 2.9 percent decrease from the same period of the previous year, the AKTOB said by a written statement on March 4.

The number of Russian tourists visiting the city decreased from 36,000 in the first two months of 2014 to 21,000 in the same period this year, the association said.

However, the number of German tourists in Antalya increased to 121,000 in the first two months of the year from around 104,000 last year.

The number of Dutch tourists visiting Antalya also increased by 7.8 percent, while the number of British tourists decreased by 17 percent, according to the data.

The biggest increase was seen in the number of tourists from Italy, Finland, Switzerland, Belgium and Iran.

The biggest decrease was seen in the number of tourists from France, Denmark, Israel, Ukraine and Austria, in addition to Russia and Britain, stated the report.