Turkey's tourism revenue rises by 17% y/y in 2019

In the fourth quarter alone, tourism revenues amounted to $7.8 billion, a 20.6% rise on the year, TurkStat said in a statement on Friday. 

Some $25.3 billion of Turkey's total tourism revenue last year was contributed by individual expenditure, while package tour expenditure brought in some $9.2 billion. 

Average expenditure per night per tourist was $68, with $73 per night for foreign tourists and $50 per night for Turkish citizens resident abroad.

The number of visitors to Turkey rose to 51.9 million in 2019, up 13.7% year-on-year. Of the total number, 86.2% or 44.7 million people, were foreign visitors, while 13.8%, or 7.1 million people, were Turkish citizens resident abroad, TurkStat said.

In 2019, most foreign visitors to Turkey, or 73.6%, visited for travel, entertainment, sports and cultural activities. Most of the Turkish citizens resident abroad, or 61.7%, visited to meet relatives and friends.

Total tourism expenditure, i.e. expenditure by Turkish citizens resident in Turkey while on a visit abroad, fell by 10.1% on the year to $4.4 billion in 2019. Some $3.7 billion of total expenditures were individual expenditures and $734.8 million were package tour expenditures.

The number of Turkish citizens who travelled abroad in 2019 increased by 15.1% year-on-year, reaching 9.6 million people, with the average expenditure reaching $456 per capita.

($ = 0.906695 euro)