Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that 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, Anadolu Agency reported.
Speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony in Turkey's southern coastal Antalya province, Erdogan stated that the new-laid Gazipasa Airport would serve for at least 1.5 million tourist after the completion of the new track and terminal building.
As he pointed out Antalya as 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 keep on with further projects to promote Antalya as a world brand," Erdogan said.
Despite the bottleneck even the world economies like the EU countries, the US and Japan are going through, Erdogan said Turkey is proceeding on its way as it breaks records in series.