Turkey has climbed one place in the UN World Tourism Organisation’s ranking of top ten most visited countries by tourist arrivals, making it now the sixth most visited country in the world.
Ozgur Ozaslan, Undersecretary for the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, told a press briefinf at World Travel Market: “Turkish tourism has registered remarkable and consistent growth over the past two decades. In 1980, Turkey received 1.2 million visitors, a figure that has increased more than 26-fold over the past 32 years, reaching 31.4 million visitors in 2011.
“International tourism receipts increased a spectacular 60-fold, placing Turkey at ninth position in the world for international tourism receipts according to the UNWTO.
“Latest figures indicate that Turkey’s growth trajectory will continue on its upward trend, which is even more remarkable given the global downturn. As of September 2012, the incoming travel volume had already surpassed 25.7 million, exceeding the number of arrivals during the same period in 2011.
“Our target for 2023, exactly 100 years since the founding of the Turkish Republic, will be to achieve at least 50 million visitors annually and become fifth in the world for international arrivals.”
