The Mediterranean resort city of Antalya has been going through the most fruitful tourism season in its history. Turkey's tourism capital has broken multiple records so far this year and everything points to it ending the year on a high note. Antalya has welcomed over 8.19 million foreign tourists in the first seven months of the year, a 16% year-on-year increase, official data shows, thus exceeding the threshold of 8 million tourists in the seven-month period of the year for the first time.
In terms of foreigners arriving through the two airports in the city, Antalya broke three daily records in June, as well as exceeding 2 million tourists in June for the first time and exceeding 5 million tourists in a six-month period, which brought five records to the city. In July, the city broke two daily records and exceeded 8 million tourists in a 7-month period for the first time.
According to the Antalya Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, over 8.19 million foreign visitors arrived in Antalya Airport and Gazipaşa Airport from Jan. 1 to July 31, a rise of 16% year-on-year, as tourists arrived from 193 countries.
It also hosted over 2.6 million tourists in July, up by 15.9% compared to the same month last year.
Russians again on top
As far as the seven-month data goes, Russians led the way with a 12.4% hike, reaching nearly 2.98 million, resulting in the country having a 37.91% share of the total number of foreigners that arrived in the city, an increase of 329,253 Russian tourists compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, German tourists ranked second, with an 18.7% year-on-year increase, reaching nearly 1.33 million. Germans had a 16.9% share in overall tourist figures. The number of German tourists soared by 209,045 compared to the same period last year.
Ukrainians ranked third, with a 5% rise, reaching 459,822. Ukraine had a 5.8% share in Antalya's tourism figures. The number of Ukrainian tourists increased by 22,659 year-on-year. The number of British tourists reached 407,379, a 21% rise, Polish 299,801 with a 21% rise, Dutch 248,993 with a 13% rise, Romanian 137,638 with a 30% rise, Czech 121,554 with a 44% rise, Swedish 120,499 with a 34% rise, Belgian 119,772 an 8% rise, Danish 114,646 with a 2% rise, Lithuanian 99,636 with a 16% rise, Norwegian 94,204 with a 65% rise and Slovakian 93,872 with a 43% rise.
A total of 865,000 Russian tourists visited the city in June, also considered the first month of the peak season in tourism, up by 4%, constituting nearly half of over 2.1 million tourists arriving in the resort city in the said month.
On the other hand, they made up for 34.5% of overall tourists last month when the number of Russian arriving in the city totaled some 863,934, an 11.7% year-on-year hike.
The number of German tourists reached 385,364, a 16.8% rise in July. Ukrainian tourists, 140,427, ranked third, an 11.5% increase, while the number of British tourists reached 114,000 and Polish 100,000 with a 15% and 38% rise, respectively.
While Antalya broke a record with some 14 million tourists last year, the city is expected to break another one by achieving its goal of 16 million tourists in 2019.
