Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 12
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Turkey intends to develop relations with Asian countries in the tourism sector, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism told Trend Sept. 12.
“The relations with such countries as China, Japan, South Korea and India in the tourism sector are very important for Turkey,” the ministry said, adding that the country intends to become the main tourist market for those countries.
Meanwhile, Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Numan Kurtulmus has recently held several meetings in China.
Earlier, during his visit to China Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara is interested in attracting tourists from China.
Cavusoglu added that at least 3 million tourists from China are expected to visit Turkey in 2018.
As of 2016, 313,000 tourists from China visited Turkey. China has declared 2018 as Turkey Tourism Year.
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, Turkey's revenues from tourism increased by 8.7 percent in April-June 2017 and amounted to $5.413 billion compared to the same period of 2016.
The number of foreigners who visited Turkey in June 2017 increased by 43.01 percent compared to the same month of 2016. In June 2017, 3.486 million foreigners visited Turkey, 41,991 of them traveled to other countries through Turkey.
Over six months of 2017, 12.249 million foreign tourists visited Turkey, which is by 14.05 percent more compared to the same period of 2016.
Meanwhile, 25.352 million tourists visited Turkey in 2016, which is by 30 percent less than in 2015.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu