Turkey expects 60-70% increase in tourist flow

By the beginning of the season, the Turkish tourism industry will be fully prepared to receive guests from abroad, while tourist traffic is expected to increase by 60-70%, the head of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB) Firuz Bağlıkaya said, Report informs referring to TASS.

“In Turkey, as in many other countries, research has begun in the field of vaccination. More than 400 million people have been vaccinated worldwide, and the total number of people vaccinated in Turkey has exceeded 13 million. In April, our country will receive another 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine. Our government has praised our request to vaccinate employees in the tourism sector as a priority industry. Thus, by the beginning of the season, our industry will be ready in all aspects to receive guests,” Bağlıkaya said.

He expressed confidence that in 2021, the flow of foreign tourists to Turkey “will increase by 60-70% compared to last year.”

“We expect over 20 million foreign visitors this year,” he added.

TURSAB called “the progress in vaccination” a major development in several countries. Turkish tour operators expect that “the first tourist groups will arrive in mid-April from such important markets as Russia and Ukraine.”

In early February, Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Ersoy said that the tourist season in Turkey will begin in April with domestic tourism, and then guests will come primarily from Russia and the UK. In mid-March, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country was ready to receive tourists from Russia, taking into account all the necessary security measures.