Turkey nears pre-pandemic visitor numbers in 2022

According to Turkish Customs data, visitor figures last year exceeded 51.4 million, which is 99% of the pre-pandemic period’s record year which came in at 51.8 million.

Last year, the country also saw tourism revenues reach a record-breaking $46.3 billion with an increase of 19% compared to 2019.

Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Turkey’s minister of culture and tourism, said the destination will aim to bring 90 million tourists and achieve $100 billion in tourism revenues by the end of 2028.

 
"To reach our targets in the next five years, we will focus on market diversification, global promotion and branding of our specific regions and products, as well as creating a sustainable tourism eco-system," he added.

"Our branding and global promotion activities will increase year by year, and by the end of 2028, we will have a total of nine destination and 20 product sub-brands, presenting the entire tourism and culture offering of our country to the entire world."

Turkey will place a particular focus on some areas in its tourism promotion activities, including faith, gastronomy, sports tourism and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) tourism.