2024-05-10 18:42:46
The tourist season in Antalya began with records; over 2 million tourists visited it in four months. By the end of the year, the Mediterranean resort province plans to receive more than 17 million tourists, said the head of the Association of Hoteliers and Tour Operators of the Mediterranean (AKTOB) Kaan Kavaloglu, Day.Az reports with reference to TASS.
According to the association, 15.7 million foreigners vacationed in Antalya in 2023, which is 2.7% more than in its record year 2019 (15.3 million). Almost 3.5 million Russians visited Antalya last year. AKTOB previously reported that this year they are planning at least a 10% increase in attendance at the resort by Russian tourists.
According to Kavaloglu, since the beginning of the season there has been a 20 percent decline in the number of tourists from Russia in Antalya. “At the beginning of the season, the Russians were ahead, but now the Germans have overtaken them. On the German market we have a growth of 20%. <...> Losses of 20% are recorded on the Russian market,” the head of the association told the Hurriyet newspaper, without naming the reasons for the decline in tourist flow from Russia.
Representatives of the Turkish tourism industry previously noted that rising prices, including for real estate and rental housing, as well as problems with obtaining a residence permit in Antalya led to an outflow of Russians to other countries, in particular to the UAE and the Balkans.
According to the Turkish Ministry of Tourism, almost 540 thousand tourists from Germany have visited Antalya since the beginning of the year, Russia is in second place (367 thousand people), followed by Great Britain (266 thousand). In 2023, 56.7 million tourists visited Turkey, with citizens of the Russian Federation in first place (6.3 million people).