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February 2, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 10
Ankara reports revival in tourist numbers as Russians return to Turkish beaches
bne IntelliNews
Turkey’s foreign tourist arrivals grew by 28% y/y to 32.4mn in 2017, data from the culture and tourism ministry showed on January 31.
The number of Russian tourists increased to 4.72mn last year from only 0.87mn in 2016 thanks to the resetting of relations between Ankara and Moscow.
Russia imposed a Turkey charter flights ban after the downing of a Russian jet near the Syrian border in November 2015 and the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Turkey subsequently shrank by 30% y/y to 25.4mn in 2016. Also
taking a toll on arrivals were security concerns following the attempted coup and wave of terrorist attacks in 2016 and Turkey's perceived slide to authoritarianism during which
the EU has raised grave concerns about a lack of respect for human rights.
Turkey’s tourism revenues increased by 19% y/y to $26.2bn in 2017, national statistics office TUIK also said on January 31. However, the average expenditure of visitors fell to $681 per capita in 2017 from $705 in 2016.
Turkey very much relies on tourism revenues to finance its current account deficit. The revenues sharply declined to $22.1bn in 2016 from $31.5bn in 2015.
However, things are now looking up. Along with the rapprochement with Moscow in 2017, there was a substantial reduction in terrorism.
As well as the return of the Russians to