The Ministry of Tourism has revealed the data for the first three months. Turkey, hosting 1.3 million tourists in March, has reached a total of 3 million tourists in the first three months. The figures are above those for the years 2005 and 2007, thought to be record breaking years.
The tourists, breaking records by reaching 3 million in just 3 months, were mainly Germans, with Iranians, Bulgarians and Russians following close behind.
According to Ministry of Tourism data, the number of tourists that came in March increased by 18.6% over last year’s figures, reaching over 1.3 persons. The number of tourists visiting Turkey during the first quarter increased by 15% and reached 2.984 million. Turkey, visited in January by 783,000, and in February by 896,000 persons, hosted 1.3 million tourists in March. The total of 2,984,000 persons that visited our country in the first three months of the year show an increase of 14.7% over last year’s figures, and a 34.7% increase over those of 2006.
1 OUT OF EVERY 5 TOURISTS IS A GERMAN
According to data received from the Ministry of Tourism, the largest number of tourists came from Germany, as usual. The data show that one out of every five tourists entering the country is a German. From this country, 268,000 tourists came to Turkey in March, and a total of 563,000 during the first quarter. Second in the listing is Iran. 114,000 tourists came from Iran in March, making a total of 184,000 in the first quarter. 84,000 visitors came from Russia in March, bringing up the number of tourists from Russia in the first quarter to 155,000. The largest number of visitors visited İstanbul. In the first quarter, 44.9% (1,339,000) of the tourists entered the country through Istanbul. Antalya was second with 18.9% (547,000 persons), and Edirne, third with 11.6% (347,000 persons).
1.3 MILLION TOURISTS FOR İSTANBUL
On the other hand, 269,783 tourists entered Antalya, visited by 624,297 persons in the first quarter, between the dates of January 1st – April 21st. The largest number of tourists to Antalya came from Germany, closely followed by the Russians, the Dutch and the Ukrainians. Istanbul Regional Directorate for Culture and Tourism information shows that 1,339,000 persons visited Istanbul in the first three months of the year. This number was 1,138,000 in 2007, indicating an increase of 18%. Istanbul, visited by 462,000 persons in March 2007, was visited by 550,000 persons during the same term this year.
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