The number of foreign tourists coming to Turkey decreased for the second consecutive month in September, according to data released by the Culture and Tourism Ministry on Tuesday.
The number of foreign tourists declined to 4.25 million in September, down 2.31 percent compared to the same month of the previous year. The decrease in tourist numbers was partly due to the decreasing number of Russian tourists. After the country entered a recession, devaluation in the Russian ruble made traveling expensive for Russians. The number of Russian tourists in Turkey decreased 17.06 percent in September compared to the same month of the previous year, from 638,000 to 529,000.
While Russian tourists constituted 14.65 percent of total visitors in Turkey in September 2014, this percentage declined to 12.44 percent this September.
On the other hand, while European tourists totaled more than half of overall visitors annually, this number also dropped 5.9 percent in September, from 2.36 million to 2.2 million, compared to the same month of the previous year.
