Following a significant fall last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Turkey's tourism income shot up by 181.8% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2021, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced on Thursday.
The country earned $11.4 billion this July-September, up from $4 billion in the same period last year when the COVID-19 crisis led to a collapse in international travel. There were travel restrictions worldwide, borders were shut and thus an overall drop in consumer demand.
The figure was $14 billion in the same period in 2019, before the onset of the coronavirus.
"Some 78% of this income – excluding GSM roaming and marina service expenditures – was generated from foreign visitors, TurkStat data showed.
Turkey welcomed 13.6 million visitors in the three-month period, jumping by 143.4% on an annual basis as restrictions were eased and vaccination rollout advanced in many parts of the world.
While 84% or 11.5 million visitors were foreigners, 16% or 2.2. million were Turkish citizens residing abroad.
According to official figures, individual expenditures constituted nearly $9 billion of the total tourism income, while some $2.3 billion of the revenues came from package tour expenditures.
TurkStat said visitors' average expenditures were $835 per capita, as foreigners spent $773 per capita and Turkish citizens living abroad spent $1,146 per capita in the third quarter of this year.
