Foreign visitors and Turkish nationals residing abroad who arrived in Turkey in the first half of the current year have spent some $1.55 billion on clothing and footwear during their stay, official data showed yesterday. Tourism revenues in Turkey jumped nearly 10% in the January-June period to hit over $12.6 billion, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). The average expenditure of visitors in the January-June period stood at $649 per capita. Tourists vacationing in Turkey in this period spent $9.66 billion on personal expenditures and $2.94 billion on package tours, the data showed. In-Turkey and international transportation costs constituted around one-quarter of personal spending by tourists, amounting to $2.5 billion, followed by spending on food and beverages with $2.4 billion.

Transportation expenditures did not change compared to the same period of 2018, while food and beverage expenditures declined by 3.6%.

Spending on accommodation and health stood at around $1.44 billion and $537 million, respectively. Tourists spent $152 million on sports, education and culture, and over $51 million on tour services.

Clothing and footwear had a 12% share, amounting to nearly $1.55 billion. Visitors also spent $545 million on souvenirs and $52 million on rugs and carpets. While spending on marina services reached $21 million, other expenditures stood at $404 million.

$2.1 BILLION SPENT BY DOMESTIC TOURISTS

On the other hand, tourism expenditures, which consist of spending by people living in the country and visiting other countries, decreased by 21% in the six months of the year compared to the same period last year to $2.1 billion.

Personal spending and package tour spending amounted to nearly $1.87 billion and $282 million, respectively.

Around three-fourths of personal spending by Turkish nationals abroad was made up of food and beverages, accommodation and transportation expenditures, with $575 million, $557 million and $219 million, respectively, as well as $171 million on souvenirs.

In the meantime, the Culture and Tourism Ministry last week announced that the number of foreigners visiting Turkey jumped by 13.2% on a yearly basis in the January-June period.

Over 18 million foreign visitors entered the country this January to June, ministry data showed. This figure reaches 21.15 million when Turkish citizens living abroad are included, an 11.81% rise year-on-year.

Over 3 million Turkish citizens residing abroad visited Turkey in the first half of the year, a 4.27% rise from the same period in 2018, TurkStat said last week.

Last year, some 39.5 million foreigners entered the country, up from 32.4 million in 2017.