After welcoming more than 40 million international visitors between January to September 2022, Turkiye has exceeded all previous records and become one of the most popular MICE and FIT tourism destinations, globally. According to the sources, Turkiye has received the highest number of visitors from the Russian Federation, Germany, and the UK, this year. However, Indian tourists are not far behind in terms of their contribution to the country’s tourism industry. Travel from India to Turkiye increased significantly after direct flights resumed at the end of March this year, with the country receiving over 1,55,000 Indian visitors from January to September ’22.
Turkiye witnessed 52 million foreign visitors in 2019, contributing to the country’s USD 34.5 billion tourism revenue. It rose to the sixth-most visited nation in the world as a result of these figures. Turkiye is prepared to top the previous records, as it anticipates hosting over 5 crore foreign tourists and 2,40,000 Indian tourists by the end of this year. This will help the country further generate 44 billion USD in tourism revenue.
Turkiye expects a high number of Indian visitors as India’s wedding season is in full swing, and many couples are travelling to Turkiye to host their destination weddings, in the country. The upcoming festive and holiday seasons combined will also add to the number of Indian travellers visiting Turkiye as most of them prefer taking leisure vacations, this time of the year. Additionally, with carriers like Turkish Airlines and Indigo that offer daily direct flights to Turkiye, it is even more convenient for Indians to visit the country. Thus, Turkiye is expecting to reach the pre-pandemic numbers of 2019, which was the record highest, by the end of 2022.
