Turkey aims to reach record high tourism figure in 2013: Turkish PM

ANTALYA – Anadolu Agency

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Turkey will break a new record if it reaches an annual tourism revenue figure of $30 billion in 2013, as the number of tourists climbed from 13 million to 36 million in 11 years, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday.

Erdoğan stated that the newly-laid Gazipaşa Airport would serve at least 1.5 million tourists after the completion of the new track and terminal building, at a groundbreaking ceremony in Turkey’s southern coastal Antalya province.

As he pointed out, Antalya is a city of civilization, history, culture, tourism, industry and agriculture. Erdogan noted that it is first and foremost a world city that serves as a window for Turkey to open up to the world.

He asserted that the Turkish government invested 13 billion Turkish Liras in Antalya within the last 11 years.

“We simply rebuilt Antalya with new schools, universities, dormitories, sports complexes, roads and houses. We will keep on with further projects to promote Antalya as a world brand,” said Erdoğan.

Despite the bottleneck, which even world economies such as EU countries, the U.S. and Japan are going through, Erdogan said Turkey is proceeding on its way as it breaks records in series.