Turkey sees 2 mln drop in tourism due to crises

Despite the decrease in the overall 2012 tourism data so far, the
 ancient city of Ephesus attracts 1 million locals and foreigners
 in the first seven month of the year. REUTERS photo

Some 2 million fewer tourists visited Turkey this year due to tensions with Syria, political problems with Iran and continuing weak demand from Israel, according to Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay.

Despite the more anemic figures, the minister is satisfied with the tourism figures so far this year.

Noting that the events in Syria, Iran and Israel have affected Turkey’s tourism sector, he said: “This year we did not see as many tourists as we saw in 2011. However, we still hope that we will see more tourists than we saw in 2010.”

Günay told Anatolia news agency yesterday that Turkey was expecting to host up to 33 million tourists in 2012, despite a fall in visitors coming from Israel and Syria as well as the economic crisis in Europe.

Over $25 billion is expected to be earned from tourism, Günay said, adding that Turkey hosted 31.4 million tourists in 2011. According to figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), Turkey earned $23 billion from tourism last year, he said.

-  Anatolia News Agency