Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the country’s 2022 tourism results. According to the Turkish Customs data, the number of tourists Türkiye welcomed in 2022 exceeded 51.4 million which is 99% of the pre-pandemic period’s record year 2019’s 51.8 million. With this number Türkiye became the 3rd biggest tourism market in the world.

Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Türkiye’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, today announced the country’s 2022 tourism performance. Ersoy said, “By the end of 2022, the global tourism visitor data recovered by 65% compared to the pre-pandemic period but Türkiye has almost reached its pre-pandemic numbers. Our growth in tourism revenues is even more impressive; in 2022, Türkiye’s tourism revenues reached a record-breaking $46.3 billion with an increase of 19% compared to 2019. These results certify that Türkiye had a great come-back after the pandemic, and we are confident to bring 90 million tourists and achieve $100 billion in tourism revenues by the end of 2028.”

“Türkiye will increase its global promotion activities and focus on sustainability” 

 Mehmet Nuri Ersoy continued “To catch our targets in the next 5 years, we will focus on market diversification, global promotion and branding of our specific regions and products, and creating a sustainable tourism eco-system. Türkiye is the first country in the world to sign a collaboration agreement with Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) on a government level. Our agreement with GSTC mandates a 3-step plan until the end of 2030 and by this time we will have a 100% sustainable tourism eco-system in our country. Our branding and global promotion activities will increase year by year, and by the end of 2028, we will have a total of 9 destination and 20 product sub-brands presenting the entire tourism and culture offering of our country to the entire world. We will sustain diversity and continuity in communication, thus operating with a $225 million marketing communications budget by 2028.”

Türkiye will focus on some specific areas in its tourism promotion activities; Faith, Gastronomy, and Sports Tourism with a specific focus on Bicycle Tourism, and MICE to be the main highlights. Türkiye will also focus on Health Tourism as well as diversifying its tourism supply to its 81 cities throughout 12 months of the year. Creating archaeological attraction points, Türkiye will continue its archaeological excavations at Taş Tepeler area – the oldest Neolithic site in the world, and launch new archaeological parks in Side- Antalya, Göreme-Cappadocia, Pergamon and Asklepion sites in İzmir and within the Lycian Way.

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