The tourist season in Antalya started with records, in four months more than 2 million tourists visited it. By the end of the year, the Mediterranean resort province plans to welcome more than 17 million tourists, said the head of the Association of Hoteliers and Tour Operators of the Mediterranean (AKTOB) Kaan Cavaloglu.
According to the association, 15.7 million foreigners vacationed in Antalya in 2023, which is 2.7% more than the record year 2019 (15.3 million). Almost 3.5 million Russians visited Antalya last year. AKTOB previously reported that this year they are planning at least a 10% increase in attendance at the resort by Russian tourists.
According to Cavaloglu, since the beginning of the season, there has been a 20 percent drop in the number of tourists visiting Antalya from Russia. “At the beginning of the season, the Russians were ahead, but now the Germans have overtaken them. In the German market we have a growth of 20%. Losses of 20% are registered on the Russian market, the head of the association told the Hurriyet newspaper, without naming the reasons for the decline in the tourist flow from Russia.
Representatives of the Turkish tourism industry have previously noted that rising prices, including for real estate and rental housing, as well as problems with obtaining a residence permit in Antalya, have led to an outflow of Russians to other countries. in particular to the UAE and the Balkans.
According to Turkey's Ministry of Tourism, almost 540,000 tourists from Germany have visited Antalya since the beginning of the year, Russia is in second place (367 thousand people), followed by Great Britain (266 thousand). In 2023, 56.7 million tourists visited Turkey, with citizens of the Russian Federation in first place (6.3 million people).