Habertürk - Türkiye’s tourism revenue in the second quarter of 2014 hit a record high of USD 8.9 billion, up 7.9 percent over the same quarter of the last year, according to figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
Some 84.5 percent of Türkiye’s tourism revenue in the second quarter is left over by foreign nationals, while the rest consisted of expenditures made by Turkish citizens living abroad. The majority of expenditures are made by visitors on individual tours, rather than those travel through holiday companies. Against approximately USD 6.6 billion spent on private visits, revenue from tour packages stood around USD 2.3 billion, TurkStat data show.
The number of foreign visitors registered an increase of 6.8 percent, reaching 10.9 million people in the said period.
Türkiye welcomed more than 35 million foreign visitors in 2013, becoming the 6th most popular travel destination in the world.
The country is expected to welcome a total of 43 million tourists this year with the tourism sector generating a revenue of USD 36 billion, according to an Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB) forecast.