Tourism in Turkey is on course for yet another strong performance as the Easter holidays approach, says the Euromonitor International tourism market analyst firm in a new report released this week.
Turkey has bucked trends elsewhere by recording consistent growth over the last few years, despite economic troubles across the world, with a strong performance in 2010 being matched by a positive start to 2011.
Research undertaken by Euromonitor shows that promotional and marketing activities by Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has had a big impact on the country’s travel industry growth.
Interestingly, the report also showed that Turkey is increasingly drawing on visitors from the likes of Russia, Iran and Middle Eastern countries rather than their traditional markets of Western Europe. The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has made huge efforts to break into these markets in recent years, and it looks like they have paid off.
One of the biggest aims of the Turkish travel industry at present is to establish itself as a premier destination for Middle Eastern tourists to enjoy health and wellness facilities on offer in the country.
Turkish tourism bosses have indentified the Middle East as its key growth market, considering both geographical and cultural factors, and the fact that most Middle Easterners like to visit countries with an Islamic culture for their holidays.
However, Europeans still make up the large majority of Turkey’s tourists, and they haven’t been forgotten either. Turkey is fast becoming one of the best places to go for low-cost healthcare, and has seen significant numbers of health tourists from the UK, Netherlands, France and Belgium, said Euromonitor.
“With 30 Joint Commission Internationally accredited hospitals in the country, together with experienced personnel and cutting edge technology, healthcare is booming in Turkey right now” the report noted.
As well as the hospitals, Turkey also has plentiful natural sources of wellness, including numerous thermal springs and spas, which are seeing a lot of interest as health and wellness travel continues to grow. The Aegean Coast, Central Anatolia and Marmara are the best regions to go for spas, Euromonitor said.