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Turkey’s tourism revenue soared last year, increasing 8.3 percent and exceeding $61.1 billion, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) showed on Friday.
In the fourth quarter of last year, tourism revenue climbed 14.5 percent to $13.79 billion, the official data showed.
Some $60.5 billion was earned from people visiting Turkey, while $6.4 million came from passengers who used Turkey as a transit country last year.
Seventeen percent of the tourism revenue was obtained from Turkish citizens who live abroad.
There was a 9 percent increase in the number of visitors to Turkey compared to 2023, with 62.2 million visitors traveling to Turkey last year. Among them, 15.4 percent, or 9.5 million, were Turkish citizens living abroad.
The tourism industry’s revenue stood at $56.44 billion in 2023 when 57 million tourists, including Turkish citizens living abroad, visited the country that year.
The figures in 2024 exceeded goals set by the Culture and Tourism Ministry for the past year for 60 million tourists and $60 billion in tourism revenue.
With regard to spending patterns, personal expenditures accounted for $43.1 billion, while package tour expenses reached $17.4 billion, marking a 22.7 percent increase compared to 2023.
Last year the average expenditure per night for all overnight visitors was $97, while it was $63 for Turkish citizens living abroad.
Almost 65 percent of the visitors arrived for leisure, cultural or sports activities, while Turkish citizens living abroad mostly returned to visit family and friends.
Tourism expenditures fall
Although a record number of visitors traveled to Turkey last year, 11.4 million Turks traveled to other countries, a 2.9 percent increase, and they spent less money compared to 2023.
Turkish tourists who traveled to other countries spent $7.7 billion, which marked a 8.2 percent decrease when compared to 2023 data. Among this, personal expenditures accounted for $6.3 billion, while package tour expenses reached $1.4 billion, a 22.7 percent increase compared to 2023.
Many see this as a result of the country’s economic woes, with people overwhelmed by a high cost of living caused by high inflation and a loss of value in the Turkish lira.
Turkey has experienced double digit inflation since 2019, with the annual rate peaking at 85.5 percent in October 2022, making life increasingly difficult for millions of families.
Annual inflation stood at 44.3 percent in December, slowing for the seventh consecutive month; however, the ENAG group of independent economists, which dispute the official inflation figures and publishes its own numbers every month, said year-on-year inflation stood at 83.4 percent in December.
The high cost of living has made it difficult for most Turks to meet their basic needs and pay their rent and bills, let alone afford a holiday.
Turkey relies heavily on tourism revenue due to its ailing economy.
Criticism at ministry
Turkey’s success in the tourism industry has been announced at a time when the Tourism Ministry is under fire due to a tragic fire at a ski resort this month.
The fire, which erupted in the early morning hours of January 21 at the Grand Kartal Hotel, a 12-story ski resort in Kartalkaya popular with vacationers during Turkey’s midterm school holiday, claimed the lives of 78 people and injured 51 others. Among the victims were 36 minors.
The ministry is accused of failing to fulfill its duty to inspect the hotel for its fire safety measures, with a preliminary investigation by a top engineers union finding widespread shortcomings at the hotel for fire safety.