Turkey Tourism aims to double in 2021

Turkey is set up to host twice as many tourists in 2021 as it hosted during last year a senior tourism official said on Wednesday.

“The country expects to host 34 million foreign visitors this year” says Turkey’s Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Nadir Alpaslan.

According to official data, the number of foreigners visiting the country fell by 71.7% throughout 2020’s pandemic. Since then, Turkey has been implementing strict safety and hygiene measures under the safe tourism certification program, which the government introduced earlier last year.

The program, according to Alpaslan, gave the country an edge over southern European countries.

The country has now also prioritized those working in the industry in its national vaccination program, an encouraging development that sector representatives say would place the country a step ahead of its competitors in the same market. Those working in Tourism sector such as tourism and travel agencies, tour guides and drivers will be in priority to receive the vaccination.

Turkey’s tourism sector had a remarkable year in 2019, welcoming 52 million tourists and earning around $35 billion (TL 262.09 billion), Alpaslan said. Though revenues were expected to reach $40 billion last year, Alpaslan said, the pandemic led to a significant drop in numbers.

The pandemic slashed tourism revenues by two-thirds, reflecting the heavy toll from rolling global travel restrictions, stay-at-home orders and the closures of restaurants and hotels that peaked in the second quarter of 2020.