Tourism minister heralds increasing demand in Turkey

Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay heralded a 17 percent increase in the number of tourists visiting the country over the same period in the previous year, during his speech at a banquet organized by Touristic Hotels and Investors Association Turkey, or TUROB, in Istanbul on Thursday. “According to TurkStat data handed to me a few hours ago, the increasing number of tourists affected a 28 percent increase in tourism revenue. If we continue this way, we will close the year with more than a 10 percent increase in the overall tourism revenue on average,” he said. Also speaking at the meeting, TUROB Chairman Timur Bayindir said Turkey was currently among the top 10 countries according to global tourism figures.“In terms of the number of tourists visiting the country, Turkey was only 17th in the list in 2002. In 2009, it increased to seventh rank, while rising from 12th to ninth in terms of tourism revenue, in the same period,” he said.