Antalya reaches peak 2014 figures in number of tourists

Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO) Chairman Davut Çetin said there are great increases in the number of tourists from European countries, stressing that for the first time in June, 2014 figures were exceeded in tourism. Antalya tourism, which started 2018 with records, broke a new record as it welcomed around 79,485 tourists on Saturday, June 23. While over 1.5 million tourists have come to the city in the first 23 days of June, the number of tourists coming to the city since the beginning of this year has reached around 4.37 million, up over 43 percent year-on-year. In 2014, the city welcomed 4.6 million foreign visitors, according to the data of the Culture and Tourism Ministry. Speaking at ATSO's June ordinary meeting, Chairman Çetin said the Turkish nation went through a major and important election with a high degree of participation and in democratic maturity.

Pointing to the increase in tourism above Turkey's average, Çetin reported that Antalya is above the country average in the increase of registered employment.

Referring to the fact that the development in tourism has also verified the positive expectations this year, Çetin noted that high increases are observed from European countries except Norway, with Norwegian growth remaining at 14 percent. "For the first time in June, we exceeded the 2014 figures in tourism. Our highest year in tourism was 2014, meaning that the decline started in 2015, 2016 was the year of crisis, the recovery started in 2017 and we just started to exceed the 2014 figures," Çetin continued. "Over the last two Saturdays, consecutive daily tourist arrivals exceeded 79,000. These are figures seen for the first time in four years. We do not only want to count the number of tourists. The added value also needs to be increased. There is a need for innovation in tourism, as well as the development of new products."

Underlining that they are trying to reduce the dependence on the Russian and German markets and all-inclusive maritime tourism, Çetin said no new bed investment should be made in maritime tourism. Çetin also added that they want to organize the Antalya Jewelry Festival, aiming to revive shopping and retail tourism.