Türkiye aims to see more than 70 million tourist arrivals by the year 2028, the nation’s Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz has said.
Speaking at the 6th TravelExpo Ankara International Tourism and Travel Fair in the Turkish capital on Tuesday, Yilmaz said the government has targeted annual tourism revenues of $100 billion by the 2030s.
"Tourism will contribute significantly to achieving our goal of bringing our current account deficit close to zero, which is included in our 12th Development Plan – spanning the years 2024-2028 – recently passed by parliament," Yilmaz said.
Türkiye's tourism statistics
According to the latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute, Türkiye's tourism income surged 20.1% year-on-year this January-September to $42 million.
The country welcomed 44.6 million visitors in the first nine months of this year, up 13.2% from last year, he added.
In the third quarter of this year, tourism income increased 13.1% from the prior year to $20.2 billion. Some 16.5%, of tourism income was generated by visits of Turkish nationals residing abroad, according to TurkStat data.