Data from the Culture and Tourism Ministry reveals some interesting facts regarding tourism in Turkey in the beginning of 2013. In the first two months of this year, Istanbul got more visitors than in the same period of time in the previous year. However, information provided by the Mediterranean Touristic Hotels and Investors Association (AKTOB) shows that Antalya had a smaller number of tourists than in 2012.
The number of tourists visiting Istanbul grew 21.6% in January and February 2013 compared to the same period of time in 2012, reaching a total of 1,149,741 tourists, with 532,726 visiting the city in January and 617,015 in February, Hurriyet Daily News reports.
In what Antalya is concerned, the number of visits in January and February 2013 saw a decrease of 6.3% compared to the same period in 2012. Speaking numbers, Antalya had 251,260 tourists this year from 268,192 last year. Also impressive is the percentage of tourists who chose to see Istanbul: 45.6% from the total tourists who visited Turkey in the same period. The most tourists who visited the city came from Germany (105,589), Russia (82,736), UK (49,197), France (45,289), U.S. (43,865), India (42,183) and Ukraine (40,156).
There were 121,000 German tourists this year (compared to 139,000 in the same period of 2012, a 12.8% decrease), and 28,000 Russian tourists, a 11.3% decrease from 2012. However, there has been an increase too, by 4%, of Dutch tourists who visited Antalya in January and February 2013 compared to 2012. Increases in the number of tourists who visited Antalya at the beginning of 2013 were also registered for tourists coming from Norway, Finland, Belgium, Israel and U.S.
It looks like Turkey has to go the extra mile and launch all the 69 new sites as well as come with interesting offers to reach its goal of attracting 33 million foreign tourists this year.