Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced Turkey’s tourism statistics for 2022. Ersoy said, “Turkey reached 51.4 million tourists and 46.3 billion dollars in revenue in 2022.”
Minister Ersoy shared the 2022 data and 2028 targets in tourism at a press conference held at Istanbul’s Atatürk Culture Center.
Ersoy said that their 2023 target in tourism is 60 million tourists and 56 billion dollars in income, and in 2028 they aim for 90 million tourists and 100 billion dollars in income.
“Everywhere Turkish Airlines flies is our target market. We have created new focus markets within the scope of product diversification. We will see very serious increases in these markets. The USA is the leading among them. We have exceeded 1 million visitors from the USA this year. Our target next year is to host 1.7 or 1.8 million visitors.” In addition, we will focus on South America, Scandinavian, Gulf, and Far East countries. Another advantage of these countries is that they leave more money in per capita income since they come from distant destinations and their average stay is long,” the minister added.
Pointing out that Turkey is by far the country that makes the most intense and most effective promotion in the world, Ersoy said, “We achieved this with the establishment of the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA). We focused on our promotions on television channels and digital in more than 200 countries. Thus, our tourism products and destinations will turn into the most well-known brands in the world.” used the phrases.
New Destination Brands & Promotional Videos
“We have created various destination brands such as Istanbul is the new cool, TurkAegean, Turkish Riviera, Taş Tepeler. In the 2023-2028 period, we will introduce a total of 20 newly branded products more intensely around the world by including 9 more main promotional brands into the system.
The most important thing here is to create content. We had a promotional film in 2018. In 2022, this figure has increased to 300. In 2028, we aim to achieve this figure as 900 commercials.
Introducing New Public Beaches
Ersoy said that 7 more public beaches will open in 2023. They are Bodrum Türkbükü, Torba, Koyunbaba, Küçük Çaltıcak, Hatay Pirinçlik, Giresun Güre, and İstanbul Şile. Minister added that 7-8 more beaches will be added each year and spread 5-star comfort public beaches to all Turkish coastal cities.
Cultural Road Festivals
In 2023, Cultural Road Festivals will be held in 11 cities. “From now on, by adding 5 cities every year, festivals will be held in 36 cities in 2028. Our new cities are Adana, İzmir, Nevşehir, Trabzon, Erzurum, and Gaziantep,” informed Ersoy.
Michelin Guide
Minister of Culture and Tourism Ersoy stated that they will add at least one more destination to the Michelin Guide in 2023, besides Istanbul, and said that they aim to increase the number of cities added to the guide to 5 in 2028.
