Türkiye hopes to see as many as 7 million Germans arriving throughout 2024 as it relies on one of its key markets to achieve new peaks in tourist numbers and revenue this year, a senior official said Tuesday.
Foreign arrivals hit a record 49.2 million in 2023, up from 44.6 million tourists who arrived in 2022. Arrivals from Russia and Europe, including Germany, spearheaded the increase. Trips from Russia stem mainly from flight restrictions imposed by Western nations over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Tourism income climbed to an all-time high of $54.32 billion, compared to $46.48 billion in 2022.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy reiterated on Tuesday the government's expectations for arrivals to reach 60 million this year before hitting 90 million in 2028.
He said the income is envisaged to rise to $60 billion this year and $100 billion five years from now.
Ersoy's remarks came on the sidelines of the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin, the world's largest tourism trade show.
The minister said last year's records came despite the devastating earthquakes that struck Türkiye's southeastern region in early February, geopolitical challenges and elections.
Ersoy said initial indicators for 2024 were very promising. Acknowledging the ambitious goal for this year, he said they rely on Germany, among other markets.
"Early bookings data has started to come in from countries. The most important of these is the German market. We ended 2023 with a very ambitious record: 6.2 million visitors from Germany," said the minister.
"The initial data looks very promising as well. We are observing an increase of over 20% in early bookings. We notice that this number is even higher for some operators. We hope to exceed 7 million in terms of Germany in 2024."
He recalled that Türkiye had surpassed Spain to become Germany's top market in early bookings for summer vacation packages.
The foreign exchange it brings in makes tourism income vital to Türkiye's economy. The government focuses on flipping the current account deficits to a surplus, prioritizing exports, production and investments, while curbing rising inflation.
Ersoy emphasized Türkiye's goal of increasing its market share, especially in the European market, highlighting the country's tourism strategies.
He focused not only on Europe but also on intensifying efforts toward the Americas and Asian markets, especially in cultural tours.
"Alongside this, we have included new destinations in the Far East as target markets in our portfolio. As of the end of 2018, we transitioned to new strategies to increase the number of quality tourists in the European market," he noted.
Türkiye closed 2023 with tourist per capita spending of $99, up from $65 in 2017. Ersoy said they aim to lift this figure to above $100 this year and exceed $130 by 2028.
"In this context, we aim to enter the market with different product varieties," he stated.
He emphasized the importance of diversifying tourism beyond just sun, sea and sand. He stressed the aim to extend the season to 12 months by including new products such as faith, nature and sports tourism and increasing the number of target markets.
"With the intensive promotional power of the Tourism Development Agency, we want to achieve both product diversity and increase the number of targeted destinations that provide us with passengers and tourists," the official said.
"We have also begun to achieve successful results. For the past four years, our country has been intensively promoting tourism in more than 200 countries, and we have initiated passenger traffic from all these countries."
