Firuz Baglikaya, the President of TURSAB (Association of Turkish Travel Agencies), has recently highlighted the UK’s substantial role in international tourism, revealing that approx. one in every two UK citizens travels abroad and they made over 70 million international trips in 2022.
There were just over 3.3m visitors from the UK to Turkiye last year, which was a record high, and the anticipation is that these numbers are set to continue, especially when Türkiye’s ambitions are to welcome approximately 3.7m visitors from the UK by the end of 2023.
Speaking at the London Tourism Fair, Baglikaya emphasized the significance of the UK as a key tourism market for Turkey, and what that could mean in terms of tourism revenue, ‘UK citizens spent approximately 58 billion pounds sterling on overseas travel in 2022’, he said, ‘and we aim to secure at least 20 percent of this expenditure.’
Of course, Spain has always been the traditional favourite, along with France and Italy, however Turkiye was ranked recently as the UK’s 8th favourite, so there’s definitely more that can be done. Not just with areas that are already highly popular such as Antalya & Mugla but other destinations such as Cappadocia, Gaziantep and the Black Sea region do have the potential to capture a significant amount of attention. Turkiye’s culture and gastronomy also deserve better attention, as does the city of Istanbul, especially when it offers some of the best sites in the country, like the Hagia Sofia.
Looking ahead, Baglikaya expressed optimism about future tourism seasons, expecting improved performance. He stated that they are on track to conclude the Republic’s 100th anniversary with record-breaking achievements, setting the stage for continued success.
Turkey’s status as a prominent player in the Tourism Industry was also further strengthened by the stats which revealed that British tourists spent an average of 8 nights in Turkey and approximately £848 pounds sterling per visit.
