As part of its new economic program, Turkey plans to attract more tourists from the Far East, a top tourism official told Anadolu Agency Saturday.
"Tourism professionals are working on the Far East market in order to attract more tourist from those countries," said Firuz Baglikaya, head of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB).
The new economic program, unveiled by Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak on Thursday, says Turkey will draw up new plans to attract tourists from such Far East countries as China, India, Japan, and South Korea.
The number of tourists visiting Turkey from those countries jumped 72.5 percent year-on-year to nearly 440,000 in the first seven months of this year, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency.
"Last year the spending of visitors from China, India, Japan, and South Korea -- considered higher-end tourists -- reached $325 billion," said Bağlıkaya.
He said representatives of the Turkish tourism sector will attend workshops in six provinces in India in the first week of October.
"In November, Indian wedding planning companies will visit Istanbul," Bağlıkaya said.
He added that this December China Southern Airlines is due to launch thrice-weekly service to Turkey.
"The only obstacle in our tourism relations with Far Eastern countries was transportation," he said.
Under the program, tourism services, including health tourism, will be diversified to boost tourism revenues, while the program aims to generate travel income of $42 billion by 2021.
In the first half of this year, over 17 million foreigners visited Turkey and spent some $11.5 billion. Last year, Turkey's tourism income totaled $26.2 billion, while visitors numbered 38.6 million.
In 2017, Turkey experienced a 22.4-percent increase in the number of people immigrating to the country, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
The number of immigrants arriving in Turkey reached 433,333 in 2017, TurkStat said.
The statistics show Istanbul is home to the largest immigration population with 166,044 people. Ankara follows with 46,475, Antalya with 21,888 and Izmir with 12,031 immigrants.