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Tourism in Turkey

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Tourism in Turkey

Tourism in Turkey is focused largely on a variety of historical sites, and on seaside resorts along its Aegean and Mediterranean Sea coasts. Turkey has also become a popular destination for culture, spa, and health care.[1] In 2023, Turkey was the fifth most visited country in the world.[2]

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Pamukkale in Turkey is a World Heritage Site. Turkey has 622 national parks.
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Uludag mountain in Bursa

At its height in 2019, Turkey attracted around 51 million foreign tourists,[3][4] The total number fluctuated between around 41 million in 2015, and around 30 million in 2016.[5][6] However, recovery began in 2017, with the number of foreign visitors increasing to 37.9 million, and in 2018 to 46.1 million visitors.[7][8][9]

Turkey has been ranked by the Belgian based HelloSafe Global Safety Index as "unsafe" and near to the "dangerous" category for travellers.[10][11]

The U.S State Department has warned against travel to select regions in Turkey due to terrorist activity. The State Department also warned that international travellers faced risk of arbitrary arrest in Turkey for vague reasons.[12] The State Department warned that terrorist activity could target civilian targets at random.[12]

Yearly tourist arrivals in millions[13][2]

Destinations

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Istanbul

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Dolmabahçe Palace is a popular tourism destination in Turkey.
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Ortaköy Mosque and the Bosphorus Bridge

Istanbul is one of the most important tourist spots not only in Turkey but also in the world. There are thousands of hotels and other tourist-oriented industries in the city. Turkey's largest city, Istanbul has a number of major attractions derived from its historical status as the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. These include the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the "Blue Mosque"), the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapı Palace, the Basilica Cistern, the Dolmabahçe Palace, the Galata Tower, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar, and the Pera Palace Hotel. Istanbul has also recently become one of the biggest shopping centers of the European region by hosting malls and shopping centers, such as MetroCity, Akmerkez and Cevahir Mall, which is the biggest mall in Europe and seventh largest shopping center in the world. Other attractions include sporting events, museums, and cultural events.

In January 2013, the Turkish government announced that it would build the world's largest airport in Istanbul. The operation has an invested 7-billion euros and was planned to have the first part of a four-part plan completed by 2017.[14]

As a consequence of the continuous fall in tourism to Turkey in recent years, as of October 2016 in Istanbul's famous bazaar once crowded shopping streets are not as crowded as before, "the streams of tourists who used to visit the market each day have trickled to a halt".[5] The number of foreign tourists visiting Istanbul declined to 9.2 million in 2016, a 26 percent decrease compared to 2015.[15]

Ankara

Ankara is the country's capital and second most populated city.[16] It is rich with Turkish history and culture that have roots in the founding of Turkey along with the history of ancient civilizations. The most popular landmark is the Anıtkabir,[17] a mausoleum for Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey. Another landmark would be the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, a museum that possesses works from Paleolithic, Neolithic, Hatti, Hittite, Phrygian, Urartian, and Roman civilizations.[18]

Izmir

Izmir is a city with historical and geopolitical importance in ancient civilizations such as Macedonia, Persia, Lydia, and the Ottomans.[19] The city has a memorable history in the early years of Turkey as it was the main city that was affected by the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922).[20] Izmir is home to many ancient cities such as Ephesus, Pergamon, and Klazomenai.[21] Besides historical significance, Izmir also possesses many locations for coastal tourism for international travelers. Frequently visited regions that have tourist beaches for local and international tourists would be Çeşme, Mordoğan, and Foça.[22][23]

Other destinations

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Ölüdeniz beach
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Butterfly Valley, Fethiye

Beach vacations and Blue Cruises, particularly for Turkish delights and visitors from Western Europe, are also central to the Turkish tourism industry. Most beach resorts are located along the southwestern and southern coast, called the Turkish Riviera, especially along the Mediterranean coast near Antalya. Antalya is also accepted as the tourism capital of Turkey.[24] Major resort towns include Bodrum, Fethiye, Marmaris, Kuşadası, Didim and Alanya. Also, Turkey has been chosen second in the world in 2015 with its 436 blue-flagged beaches, according to the Chamber of Shipping.[25]

Attractions elsewhere in the country include the sites of Ephesus, Troy, Pergamon, House of the Virgin Mary, Pamukkale, Hierapolis, Trabzon (where one of the oldest monasteries is the Sümela Monastery), Konya (where the poet Rumi had spent most of his life), Didyma, Church of Antioch, ancient Pontic capital and king rock tombs with its acropolis in Amasya, religious places in Mardin (such as Deyrülzafarân Monastery), and the ruined cities and landscapes of Cappadocia.

One of the most important and famous cities in the east and southeast of Turkey is called Diyarbakır. This city is considered one of the important options for traveling to the east of Turkey due to its numerous historical, religious and cultural places. For researchers who are interested in cultural studies, this city is a favorable option for study and research due to the accommodation of different ethnic groups (Kurds, Turks, Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians) and religious groups (Muslims, Christians). Due to the civil wars between the PKK group and the central government of Turkey in the 90's, the number of tourists in this region decreased. With the beginning of the 21st century and after the establishment of relative peace and security in these areas, tourism has been increasing again in these areas.[31]

Gallipoli and Anzac Cove – a small cove on the Gallipoli peninsula, which became known as the site of World War I landing of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) on 25 April 1915. Following the landing at Anzac Cove, the beach became the main base for the Australian and New Zealand troops for the eight months of the Gallipoli campaign.

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Cappadocia is a region created by the erosion of soft volcanic stone by the wind and rain for centuries.[32] In the picture is the classic hot air ballon showing.The area is a popular tourist destination, having many sites with unique geological, historic, and cultural features.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Main article: List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey
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Safranbolu was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1994 due to its well-preserved Ottoman era houses and architecture.

As of 2023, Turkey hosts 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 19 cultural and 2 mixed.[33]

Turkey's World Heritage Sites, as per their official UNESCO names, are as follows:

  1. Aphrodisias
  2. Archaeological Site of Ani
  3. Archaeological Site of Troy
  4. Arslantepe Mound
  5. Bursa and Cumalıkızık: the Birth of the Ottoman Empire
  6. City of Safranbolu
  7. Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape
  8. Ephesus
  9. Gordion
  10. Göbekli Tepe
  11. Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia
  12. Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği
  13. Hattusha: the Hittite Capital
  14. Hierapolis-Pamukkale
  15. Historic Areas of Istanbul
  16. Nemrut Dağ
  17. Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük
  18. Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape
  19. Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex
  20. Wooden Hypostyle Mosques of Medieval Anatolia
  21. Xanthos-Letoon

Medical tourism

Main article: Health care in Turkey
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Acıbadem Hospital in Altunizade, Istanbul

An emerging branch of tourism in Turkey is medical tourism. Commonly performed medical procedures are hair transplant operations, rhinoplasty, cosmetic dentistry, bariatric surgery, buttock augmentation, mammaplasty and mastopexy as it draws in thousands of foreigner tourists every year.[34][35] In 2021, the revenue generated from medical tourism was given as $1.05 billion with 642,000 people that visited for the purpose of getting medical service.[36] This is due to Turkey offering high-quality clinics for affordable pricing compared to the rest of Europe and its central location between Asia and Europe.[37] Other reasons for the high demand for healthcare in Turkey are foreigners having easy visa procedures and immediate scheduling for operations.[1]

Development of tourism

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Most tourist arrivals in Turkey come from the following countries:[38][39][9][40][41]

More information Country ...
Country 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
 Russia 6,710,198 6,313,675 5,232,611 4,694,422 2,128,7587,017,6575,964,631
 Germany 6,620,612 6,193,259 5,679,194 3,085,215 1,118,9325,027,4724,512,360
 United Kingdom 4,433,782 3,800,922 3,370,739 392,746 820,709 2,562,0642,254,871
 Iran 3,277,852 2,504,494 2,331,076 9,618 385,762 2,102,8902,001,744
 Bulgaria 2,918,581 2,893,092 2,882,512 1,402,795 1,242,961 2,713,4642,386,885
 Poland 1,866,986 1,539,123 1,135,903 585,076 145,908880,839646,365
 Georgia 1,466,188 1,633,977 1,514,813 291,852 410,5011,995,2542,069,392
 United States 1,442,191 1,334,337 1,013,478 371,759 148,937578,074448,327
 Netherlands 1,303,262 1,232,220 1,244,756 645,601 271,5261,117,2901,013,642
 Romania 1,173,358 990,005 886,555 496,178 269,076763,320641,484
 France 1,088,380 1,031,824 986,090 621,493 311,708875,957731,379
 Iraq 968,834 1,051,721 1,208,895 836,624 387,5871,374,8961,172,896
 Azerbaijan 956,178 855,445 683,834 470,618 236,797901,723858,506
 Ukraine 941,614 839,729 675,467 2,060,008 997,6521,547,9961,386,934
 Saudi Arabia 869,453 820,683 497,914 10,083 67,490564,816747,233
 Kazakhstan 863,542 826,319 712,136 366,076 137,213455,724426,916
 Italy 719,668 602,176 420,661 116,806 72,619377,011284,195
 Greece 707,133 686,480 569,795 157,723 136,305836,882686,891
 Belgium 625,263 596,355 596,173 339,529 138,729557,435511,559
 Uzbekistan 569,818 470,644 419,673 272,604 102,598252,138241,235
 Austria 548,794 496,482 454,638 284,095 112,126401,475353,628
 Czech Republic 410,280 384,158 295,454 89,734 15,642311,359228,251
 China 409,733 248,119 89,515 33,641 40,264426,344394,109
  Switzerland 406,357 390,044 382,835 219,591 127,643311,107269,649
 Sweden 397,201 364,984 415,696 192,872 93,703444,285384,397
 Spain 382,896 324,690 298,165 104,848 54,381257,342178,018
 Denmark 345,198 319,835 356,127 111,499 44,694335,877326,278
 Serbia 342,002 311,738 357,787 238,852 129,284282,347225,312
 Belarus 334,796 309,216 239,966 220,932 106,426258,419245,254
 India 330,985 274,159 231,579 52,651 44,707230,131147,127
 Moldova 329,796 288,377 274,257 192,441 109,137 198,867 194,268
 Algeria 324,042 292,505 210,478 48,827 50,121295,512288,207
 Canada 302,728 248,868 197,416 72,034 34,210 139,164 108,272
 Jordan 301,641 384,680 494,629 326,633 93,750474,874406,469
 Lithuania 285,026 277,810 251,619 114,227 14,194229,704199,371
 Kuwait 264,440 363,070 480,123 246,249 120,221374,191298,620
 Lebanon 261,713 257,781 272,844 191,768 89,337376,721338,837
 Northern Cyprus 261,608 215,137 182,945 68,353 59,808268,341266,859
 Hungary 252,066 222,327 165,842 76,257 16,563 149,523 123,448
 North Macedonia 246,626 251,066 266,184 182,045 115,483 222,862 209,519
 Morocco 236,764 262,124 251,708 121,333 67,775234,264176,538
 Egypt 231,097 187,053 227,850 124,483 68,936 177,655 148,943
 Norway 222,994 203,325 191,789 54,633 25,100 208,330 161,789
 Libya 220,497 194,351 220,179 197,983 107,251259,243188,312
 Kosovo 209,853 174,681 193,823 145,931 70,462 152,048 139,500
 South Korea 206,931 159,039 99,869 15,206 36,636 212,970 159,354
 Australia 205,874 192,770 118,847 15,674 15,109 120,837 96,488
 Indonesia 202,456 178,800 152,995 49,319 36,690 127,149 119,337
 Bosnia 197,388 177,893 200,698 131,347 61,651 144,445 120,480
 Ireland 195,899 163,165 136,608 36,947 26,176 96,886 71,221
 Kyrgyzstan 195,899 169,906 147,487 102,840 52,142 121,364 114,926
 Tunisia 182,053 176,547 206,714 126,970 57,563 172,587 142,372
 Albania 159,828 142,482 145,032 89,748 49,667 134,869 125,935
 Turkmenistan 153,688 120,928 45,249 18,979 43,236297,706252,911
 Mexico 142,963 155,155 114,267 34,705 12,775 66,557 36,737
 Pakistan 135,653 140,388 173,621 90,681 51,326 130,736 113,579
 Japan 135,653 78,782 30,610 7,153 19,122 103,320 81,931
 Philippines 129,071 120,347 97,954 55,397 48,440 139,126 95,068
 Finland 123,414 117,123 117,281 32,809 15,003 135,192 128,860
 Brazil 120,201 106,717 84,582 17,788 22,722 101,164 78,691
 United Arab Emirates 99,992 120,819 146,438 52,587 3,772 37,500 43,292
 Malaysia 93,132 95,444 89,766 9,618 17,892 114,214 95,591
 Israel 85,949 765,776 843,028 225,238 129,677569,368443,732
Total 52,629,283 49,209,180 44,564,395 24,712,26612,734,21351,747,19846,112,592
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Visa policy of Turkey
  Republic of Turkey
  Unlimited stay
  Visa not required (90 days and may enter with ID card)
  Visa not required (90 days)
  Visa not required (60 days)
  Visa not required (30 days)
  Visa not required (90 days - conditional)
  eVisa (30 days)
  eVisa (30 days - conditional)
  Visa required

Foreign tourist arrivals increased substantially in Turkey between 2000 and 2005, from 8 million to 25 million, which made Turkey a top-10 destination in the world for foreign visitors. 2005 revenues were US$20.3 billion which also made Turkey one of the top-10 biggest revenue owners in the world. In 2011, Turkey ranked as the 6th most popular tourist destination in the world and 4th in Europe, according to UNWTO World Tourism barometer.[42] See World Tourism rankings. At its height in 2014, Turkey attracted around 42 million foreign tourists, still ranking as the 6th most popular tourist destination in the world.[4] From 2015, tourism to Turkey entered a steep decline.[43][44] In 2016, only around 30 million people visited Turkey. 2016 is described as the second year of huge losses on both visitor numbers and income, a "year of devastating losses", with Turkish tourism businesses stating that they "cannot remember a worse time in the sector".[5] The number of foreign visitors started recovering in 2017 with 37.9 million visitors being recorded. The recovery was partly due to intense security campaigns and advertising. The number of Russian tourists increased by 444% after the recovery of bilateral relations, resulting in Russia becoming the top tourism market for Turkey once again.[7][8] Increases were also recorded in the British, Dutch and Belgian markets.[45]

In early 2017, the Turkish government urged Turkish citizens living abroad to take their vacations in Turkey, attempting to revive the struggling tourism sector[46] of an economy that went into contraction from late 2016.[47] After the April 2017 constitutional referendum, another sharp drop in tourist bookings from Germany was recorded.[48] In 2018, however, the German Tourism Industry Association recorded a growth in German tourist bookings for Turkey, with a 70% increase being recorded by the TUI Group alone.[49]

Gallery

Government policy and regulation

The AKP government has been promoting "halal tourism" for years,[50] politically reaffirming this stance over the course of 2016.[51] In March 2017, a Turkish court banned global travel fare aggregator website Booking.com from offering services to Turkish tourists for lack of a national licence,[52] while the Hoteliers Association of Turkey campaigns for a lifting the ban of the enterprise on which its members relied for up to 90 percent of their turnover.[53] In April 2017, the police department of the prime resort city of Antalya issued a directive banning the consumption of alcohol outside of buildings.[54]

Safety

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According to the 2024 edition of the Belgian based HelloSafe Global Safety Index, Turkey ranks among the higher-risk countries for travelers, with a score of 57.86 out of 100—placing it in the "unsafe" category, close to the threshold of "dangerous." [11][10] The ranking is based on data from a range of international institutions, including various United Nations agencies (such as WHO, UNDP, and UNODC), the World Bank, and research bodies like SIPRI, IISS, and the Institute for Economics and Peace. In the 2024 year's report, Turkey scored lower on safety than several conflict-affected countries such as Afghanistan and North Korea.[11][10]

The U.S. Department of State in 2024 has advised travelers to exercise increased caution when visiting Türkiye due to risks related to terrorism and arbitrary detentions. The State department classified Şırnak Province, Hakkâri Province, and areas within 10 kilometers of the Syrian border in the “Do Not Travel” category due to heightened terrorist activity.[12]

The State department said terrorists in Turkey may target crowded or public areas such as transportation hubs, tourist sites, shopping centers, places of worship, and major events, often with little or no warning. In addition to security risks, the State Department raised its concern on arbitrary detentions with individuals including U.S. citizens reportedly held on vague or politically motivated charges. According to the department international travelers may also face exit bans and arrest for participating in unauthorized demonstrations or for expressing criticism of the government, including on social media platforms.[12]

Sex tourism

Main article: Prostitution in Turkey

Prostitution is legal and regulated in Turkey. The secularization of Turkish society allowed prostitution to achieve legal status during the early 20th century. Sex tourism has been part of Turkey's tourism industry and has been growing over the decades both for foreigners and locals.[55] Anyone who encourages someone to commit prostitution, facilitates it, or mediates or provides a place for prostitution is punished with imprisonment from two months to four years and a judicial fine of up to three thousand days.[56][57]

COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of tourists arriving in Turkey declined to around 16 million in 2020.[58] This was the lowest number of tourists in the last decade.[58] The revenue from international travel was reduced to $13.7 billion which only made up 1.91% of the total economy in 2020.[59][60] In 2021, Turkey's tourism recovered from the pandemic as it contributed $59.3 billion to the GDP, which made up 7.3% of the total economy.[61][62]

See also

References

Further reading

External links

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