The number of tourists pouring in from Russia and European markets is rising at a faster-than-expected pace, prompting Türkiye’s seasonal expectations to be revised upward, according to industry officials.
Encouraged by flows in the first half of the year and soaring earnings, Türkiye last month lifted its targets to $37 billion in tourism revenues and 47 million tourists for this year, up from earlier forecasts of $35 billion and 45 million.
Global headwinds and uncertainties coupled with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were expected to impact the arrivals from Türkiye’s top tourist sources, just as the sector recovered from the coronavirus pandemic.
Yet, Mehmet Işler, the deputy chair of the Türkiye Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED) highlighted a continuous increase in arrivals from Russia, particularly in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya.
"This is a pleasing development for tourism. Our expectations when it comes to the Russian market have gone even higher than at the beginning of the season," Işler told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Saturday.
"We did not expect so many Russian tourists," said Kuşadası Tourism and Promotion Association Chair Bülent Ilbahar.
Tourist flows have also been driven by arrivals from Europe, spearheaded by the United Kingdom and Germany, which Işler says also maintain an upward trend.
"We had predicted around 2.5 million tourists from the U.K.; this figure is heading towards 3.5 million. Arrivals from the European market also continue to rise," said Işler.
The number of foreign tourists hit 16.37 million in the first half of the year, up 186% year-over-year, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry data.
Germans made up the largest chunk of visitors in the January-June period, with over 2 million arrivals, nearly fourfold compared to a year ago.
Russians followed with 1.5 million, Britons with 1.3 million and Bulgarians with 1.2 million, the data showed.
Industry officials cite Türkiye’s position and its careful policy when it comes to Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.
The government has pursued what President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan calls a "balanced" approach to Kyiv and Moscow and has maintained close links with both countries.
Ankara has criticized Russia’s invasion, sent armed drones to Ukraine and sought to facilitate peace talks between the sides. But it has not backed Western sanctions on Moscow and seeks to maintain close trade, energy and tourism ties.
At least five Turkish banks have started using Russia’s Mir payments system, allowing Russian tourists to pay for their purchases in Türkiye.
Russian cards issued by Visa and Mastercard stopped functioning overseas after the world’s two most prominent payment processing networks ceased operations in early March.
Türkiye is also among the few countries that maintained reciprocal flights with Russia.
Russians and Ukrainians were Türkiye’s first and third biggest sources of visitors, respectively, in 2021. Russians accounted for 19% of foreign visitors, with 4.7 million people, while Ukraine was the third-largest at 8.3%, with 2.1 million people.
The number of foreign visitors soared 94.1% to 24.71 million last year when COVID-19 measures were eased compared to 2020. Tourism revenues doubled to almost $25 billion, recovering from the worst of the COVID-19 impact, but remaining well below the level recorded in 2019.
Officials had hoped tourism this year could replicate or exceed the numbers from 2019, when some 52 million visitors – including about 7 million Russians and 1.6 million Ukrainians – brought in $34 billion in revenue.
"If we are able to raise the tourist target to 47 million despite all that is happening in our region and the economy, this is a great success for both our country and Turkish tourism. The most important thing behind this is the fact that Türkiye has maintained its relations with both the European Union, and Ukraine and Russia, with a very strategic balance," Işler said.
"With a really very successful foreign policy, we did not take Europe, Ukraine, or Russia against us."
Ilbahar also noted what he said was the right foreign policy in the Ukraine war, stressing that this was reflected in tourist flows in the Aegean resort town of Kuşadası.
He added that strong demand has brought along additional flights from Russia to Türkiye’s resorts, including Bodrum, Dalaman and Antalya.
"There are mainly tourists from the U.K., European and Balkan countries in Kuşadası. The interest of the Russians is also good. About 20% of the tourists who came last year were from Russia. We think that this rate will increase to 25% this year," Ilbahar noted.