Tourism revenue target in Türkiye revised to $46 billion: Minister

Türkiye has revised its targets upwards for tourist arrivals and
tourism revenue for 2022 to 51.5 million and to $46 billion,
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has announced,
Trend reports citing
Hurriyet Daily News.

Some 60 million visitors and $56 billion in tourism revenues are
expected next year, Ersoy said, speaking at the parliament where he
presented his ministry’s budget for 2023.

“All those numbers point to the fact that Türkiye is now in the
super league in the global tourism industry. Our competitors are
the top countries [in tourism]. We are moving toward meeting our
targets,” Ersoy said.

Türkiye at the start of 2022 set tourist arrival and tourism
revenue targets at 42 million and $35 billion. In the face of the
rebound in tourism activity, those targets were revised upwards
first in July to 47 million and $37 billion. In October, Ersoy
announced another revision for the 2022 targets to 50 million
tourist arrivals and $44 billion in tourism revenues.

In the January-October period, 39.6 million foreign tourists
visited Türkiye, marking an 88 percent increase from the same
period of 2021. Including Turkish citizens residing abroad, tourist
arrivals exceeded 45 million people.

In the third quarter of 2022, tourism revenues rose by 27
percent year-on-year to $17.95 billion. In the first nine months of
the year, tourism revenues amounted to $35 billion, exhibiting a 68
percent increase from a year ago.

Türkiye successfully managed the crisis in the global tourism
industry, which was triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, engaging in
very effective campaigns abroad to promote the country, Ersoy
said.

Under the “Safe Tourism Program,” more than 12,000 facilities
and vehicles received a certificate as of June, according to the
minister.

“Presently, we are carrying out special promotion campaigns
through digital and conventional means of communication in 200
countries.”

Ersoy also noted that Türkiye signed a three-year cooperation
agreement with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and prepared
a “Türkiye Sustainable Tourism Program.”

This program sets out sustainability criteria for accommodation
facilities, the minister explained.

Under the sustainability program, which covers the years 2023,
2025 and 2030, all accommodation facilities will gradually become
environment friendly, Ersoy said.

The government provided a total of 2.3 billion Turkish Liras in
financial support between 2002 and 2022 to improve infrastructure
and as part of sustainability efforts, according to Ersoy.