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Russians lead foreign tourist numbers in Turkiye in first 10 months of 2023

Russians took the lead among foreign tourists in Turkiye, with 5.8 million visitors in the first 10 months of this year, Deutsche Welle Turkish service reported on Tuesday, citing data from the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR).

According to ATOR, Russians comprised 21 percent of foreign tourists visiting Turkiye during the January-October period

The number of Russian tourists choosing Turkiye as their holiday destination in the first 10 months of this year increased by 26 percent compared to the same period of 2022, but it was 12.8 percent lower than the figure recorded in 2019 before the pandemic.

Russians were followed by Germans and British in visits to Turkiye so far this year.

ATOR figures also showed that Antalya continues to be the most popular destination for Russian tourists this year, hosting 3.3 million Russian visitors from January to October, with a notable 17.5 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Despite the positive trend, visits to Antalya still fell short by 38.7 percent when compared to the pre-pandemic figures of 2019.

A total of 672,200 Russians visited Turkiye in October, reflecting a 12.5 percent decrease compared to October of last year. The decline is believed to be linked to the surge of Russian visitors to Turkiye last year following Russia’s partial mobilization during the conflict with Ukraine.

Data from Turkiye’s Culture and Tourism Ministry also showed in September that Russians accounted for the largest percentage of 36 million tourists who visited Turkiye in the first eight months of 2023, with 4,351,000 visitors.

Turkiye, which was already a popular holiday destination for Russians, has begun to be preferred by more Russians since the EU imposed restrictions on Russians traveling to Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Obtaining visas for EU countries has become more expensive and less straightforward for Russians,while Russian air carriers have been banned from flying over or into the EU.

Source: turkishminute

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