Bright outlook for Turkish tourism
The United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) latest report shows that Turkey’s already healthy tourist sector is set for a bright future, as the country recorded an 8.7-per-cent increase in incoming visitors between 2010 (27 million) and 2011 (29.3 million). The report also states that Turkey’s tourist revenue almost tripled in the last decade, from $8 billion in 2001 to $23 billion 2011, and that the cities of Antalya and Istanbul are the third and ninth most visited cities in the world, respectively. The country’s ongoing success as a tourist destination – tourist arrivals have grown by 2,400 per cent since 1980 – is largely attributed to the government’s commitment to tourism as a major industry, and a primary source of income. It has also weathered the recent unrest in the Middle East, and the effects of the Arab Spring, better than most other countries in the region. Hans Biekmann, chief executive officer of Turkish assistance provider Marmassistance, said: “We are experiencing a considerable increase in the number of cases involving tourists from the Middle Eastern countries like Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. As the gateway between the East and the West, we are doing our very best to act sensitively to these issues.”
The United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) latest report shows that Turkey’s already healthy tourist sector is set for a bright future, as the country recorded an 8.7-per-cent increase in incoming visitors between 2010 (27 million) and 2011 (29.3 million). The report also states that Turkey’s tourist revenue almost tripled in the last decade, from $8 billion in 2001 to $23 billion 2011, and that the cities of Antalya and Istanbul are the third and ninth most visited cities in the world, respectively. The country’s ongoing success as a tourist destination – tourist arrivals have grown by 2,400 per cent since 1980 – is largely attributed to the government’s commitment to tourism as a major industry, and a primary source of income. It has also weathered the recent unrest in the Middle East, and the effects of the Arab Spring, better than most other countries in the region. Hans Biekmann, chief executive officer of Turkish assistance provider Marmassistance, said: “We are experiencing a considerable increase in the number of cases involving tourists from the Middle Eastern countries like Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. As the gateway between the East and the West, we are doing our very best to act sensitively to these issues.”
Turkey is not resting on its laurels, however – its minister of culture and tourism, Ertugrul Gunay, has listed its targets for this year as 33 million tourist arrivals and revenue of $25 billion. Meanwhile, there have been mixed results from some other major markets. The Croatian Ministry of Tourism showed excellent figures for the period January to July 2012, with 6.66 million arrivals and 35.87 million overnight stays, respectively a 3.8-percent and 5.4-per-cent increase from the same period in 2011. Total profits had risen by 4.2 per cent from last year. The Ministry also recorded excellent results for the American and Canadian markets, with a 14.88-per-cent increase in arrivals from the two countries to Croatia – 125,282 arrivals overall. The European Travel Commission (ETC) has also reported generally strong numbers for the first half of the year, although the results have mostly been attributed to intra-European travel, rather than travel from non-European markets such as the US, and a slow down is predicted for the remainder of the year. Sixteen out of 26 European countries analysed have experienced declines in hotel bookings – although business for Eastern European hotels remains strong, largely because of visitors from non-Eurozone markets – and overall, the ETC expects a decline of one per cent for 2012 overall, and ‘modest growth’ of 0.9 per cent in 2013.