Tourism sector revenues in Turkey increased by 5.4 percent during the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year, reaching $8 billion, 784 million and 800 thousand dollars.

This came according to the latest data published by the Turkish Statistics Authority on Tuesday.

The data showed that 21 percent of tourism revenues in the first quarter of this year were derived from visits by Turkish citizens residing abroad.

It indicated that 46 percent of foreign visitors came to Turkey for trips, entertainment, sports and cultural activities, 13.3 percent for the purpose of visiting relatives and friends, and 9.6 percent for the purpose of shopping.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country and Germany aim to increase the volume of bilateral trade between the two countries from $50 billion to $60 billion.

This came in a joint press conference on Wednesday held by President Erdogan with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Erdogan added: “We hope that Turkey and Germany will from now on talk about joint production projects in defense industries and not about obstacles.”

He continued: “We want to completely remove from our agenda the restrictions we face in the defense industries with Germany.”

He stressed that human ties contributed to strengthening existing bilateral relations between the two countries, thanking in this context the German people for standing by the Turks in the devastating earthquake disaster that struck southern Turkey on February 6, 2023.

The Turkish President pointed out that he discussed with his German counterpart bilateral relations in all their aspects and details, stressing Ankara’s desire to strengthen relations with Berlin.

He continued: “Our cooperation in the field of tourism is developing day after day. In 2023, we hosted more than 6 million German tourists, and I believe that this number will increase.”

He added: “We discussed the steps that must be taken, especially with regard to the customs union agreement and visa liberalization. We also exchanged views on regional and international developments.”

Erdogan indicated that he discussed with Steinmeier issues related to the Turkish community in Germany, and stated that they attach importance to the integration of the Turkish community there and encourage it to do so.

He stressed that Turkey considers the new German citizenship law, which makes dual citizenship possible, an important step in this context.

He added, “But on the other hand, our concerns are increasing about the anti-foreigner, anti-Islamic, far-right, and racist organizations that are rising in Germany and throughout Europe.”

He stated that during his meeting with Steinmeier, he also touched on combating terrorist organizations that disturb the peace in Germany and attack representative offices belonging to Turkey.

He continued: “We need more effective cooperation in combating these organizations that harm our alliance. We expect more support and solidarity from the German authorities in the fight against terrorism.”

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Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Polat discussed with UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi the economic and trade relations between the two countries.

Polat said in a post on the “X” platform that he held discussions with the Emirati minister in a phone call that took place between them on Thursday.

He stated that he agreed with Al-Zeyoudi to accelerate the necessary steps to increase the volume of trade between the two countries and increase investments through the opportunities provided by the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the two countries.

He added: “The economic relations between Turkey and the UAE have a multi-dimensional structure that includes trade, investment, energy and tourism, and we will continue to work to further strengthen our economic relationship.”

The two ministers also exchanged congratulations on Eid al-Fitr, the first day of which fell yesterday, Wednesday, according to the same publication.

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Kostas Frangoiannis, Greek Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of economic diplomacy, said that they intend to build a bridge on the border with Turkey to facilitate crossings between the two countries.

He added in his interview with the newspaper “Parapolitika” that they avoid touching on sensitive topics in Athens’ relations with Ankara.

He pointed to the development of bilateral relations between the two countries through 29 different fields, most notably transportation, environment, tourism and trade.

He reported that important steps had been taken to strengthen bilateral cooperation during the first three years of launching the positive agenda between the two countries, especially with regard to reviving tourism, trade facilitation, and protecting civilians.

Frangoiannis also pointed out that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed, during their recent meeting in New York, the continuation of the positive agenda between the two countries.

He stressed that the common goal of the two countries currently is to conclude agreements and memorandums of understanding on some topics during the upcoming summit on December 7 in the Greek region of Thessaloniki.

In the context of continuing the positive agenda between Ankara and Athens, the latter intends – according to Frangoiannis – to build a bridge on the border between the two countries at the “Ipsala” crossing by next year 2024.

He explained that the aim of building the bridge is to facilitate transportation and crossing operations on the Turkish-Greek border.

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Istanbul International Airport has been awarded “Best Family-Friendly International Airport” and “Best Transit Airport” by the American “Global Traveler Magazine” specializing in the tourism sector.

This came according to a statement issued by the company operating Istanbul Airport (IGA) on Wednesday.

The statement indicated that, according to the classification of “Global Traveler” magazine, the airport won the two awards for the second time in a row during the 11th “Leisure Lifestyle Awards” for the year 2023.

Readers vote on services, destinations, hotels, airlines and cruises based on their experiences in the magazine’s annual poll.

It is noteworthy that Istanbul Airport won the two awards last year.

On October 29, 2018, President Erdogan inaugurated the first phase of Istanbul Airport, which was built on an area of 76.5 million square meters, with the participation of more than 50 high-ranking guests from around the world.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin the importance of the grain shipment agreement across the Black Sea, describing it as a “bridge to peace”.

This came in a phone call between the two leaders on Wednesday, according to a statement issued by the Turkish Presidency Communications Department.

Erdogan stressed to Putin the importance of the agreement to ship grain across the Black Sea, describing it as a “bridge of peace.”

He also stressed that Turkey will continue to make intensive diplomatic efforts for the continuation of the grain initiative across the Black Sea.

He said that stopping the grain shipping initiative for a long time is not in the interest of anyone, indicating that the greatest damage will be inflicted on needy and low-income countries.

He pointed out that grain prices, which fell 23 percent during the validity period of the agreement, rose 15 percent in the last two weeks.

On July 17, Moscow refused to extend the Ukrainian grain export agreement and said that it would “extend it if the Russian part of it is implemented.”

Erdogan also stressed the need to avoid steps that escalate the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The statement indicated that the two leaders agreed that the Russian President would visit Turkey.

Erdogan expressed his satisfaction with the increasing interest of Russian tourists in Turkey, expressing his belief that the tourism sector will witness a record number this year through joint efforts.

Erdogan thanked his counterpart Putin for sending Russia two amphibious planes to Turkey to contribute to efforts to put out forest fires there.

On July 19, the Russian Emergencies Ministry announced that it had sent two firefighting planes to Turkey in order to contribute to efforts to extinguish forest fires in the states of Izmir and Mugla (west).

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Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said that tourism is in fact Turkey’s “oil”.

He said in statements to reporters in the state of Antalya on Monday that their goal for the current year is to achieve $ 56 billion in tourism revenues.

He stated that the number of tourists coming to Turkey is constantly increasing every year.

He added, “Our oil, in fact, is tourism, and our goal is very big. We aim, God willing, to achieve revenues of $100 billion by 2028.”

He noted that the target for 2028 will be reached with “partial progress” every year.

Turkey received 51 million 387 thousand and 513 visitors during 2022, an increase of 71.07 percent compared to the previous year 2021, according to a statement by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism in early February.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his country’s desire to increase the value of its exports to $265 billion by the end of this year, despite the negative global economic scene.

This came in Saturday’s speech during his participation in the 30th regular meeting of the Exporters Council and the ceremony honoring the most exporting businessmen in Istanbul.

Erdogan said, “We want to increase our exports by the end of 2023 to 265 billion dollars, despite the negative global economic landscape, and to 285 billion dollars next year.”

He stressed that Türkiye aims to reach more than $400 billion in exports in 2028.

The Turkish president made it clear that his government is studying in good faith all proposals and constructive criticisms made by exporters in order to accelerate the pace of foreign trade.

He pointed out that the year 2022 witnessed an increase in merchandise exports by 12.9 percent, recording revenues of about $254.2 billion.

He added that Turkey’s share of global trade rose to 1.02 percent in 2022.

He added that the services sector’s exports recorded an increase over the past year by 47.3 percent, and exceeded the $90 billion barrier.

On the other hand, Erdogan said that Turkey is witnessing an increasing number of international patients every year. We want to turn our country into a global center for medical tourism.”

And he added, “We will witness, God willing, receiving 2 million tourists in the medical tourism sector during 2023.”

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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced that more than 5 million tons of grain have arrived in sub-Saharan Africa since the signing of the grain agreement between Russia and Ukraine under the auspices of Turkey and the United Nations.

This came in a press conference with his Rwandan counterpart, Vincent Perrotta, in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

Çavuşoğlu indicated that the grain agreement, since its signing, has released more than 17 million tons of grain, which reached the countries of the world through the Black Sea.

And he indicated that more than 60 percent of Ukrainian grain exported across the Black Sea reached low- and middle-income countries.

According to Çavuşoğlu, the two sides discussed in their meeting prior to the press conference the bilateral relations between the two countries in the fields of economy, investment, energy, defense industries, culture and education.

Çavuşoğlu stressed the Turkish government’s desire to activate political consultations between the two countries and to establish a parliamentary friendship group between them.

He pointed to the 5-fold increase in the volume of trade between the two countries in the last 3 years, and the importance of increasing it and making it equal for both countries in the future.

The volume of Turkish investments in Rwanda amounted to half a billion dollars, constituting 13 percent of the volume of foreign investments, foremost of which are investments in the tourism, energy and construction sectors.

Turkish Airlines operates daily flights between Istanbul and the capital, Kigali, according to Çavuşoğlu.

More than 185 Rwandan students are studying in Turkey, benefiting from the Turkish Scholarship Program.

The Yunus Emre Turkish Institute is supervising the teaching of the Turkish language to Rwandans, in addition to opening a center for it at the University of Rwanda, where Çavuşoğlu expressed his happiness at the great turnout of Rwandans to learn the Turkish language.

He announced that the Turkish and Rwandan sides had signed two cooperation agreements in the field of culture, informatics, innovation and increased cooperation in the field of security and defense industries.

He indicated that he would meet Rwandan President Paul Kagame, during which he would hand him an invitation from his counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to visit Turkey.

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Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced Thursday that tourism revenues increased during the first 9 months of this year by 68 percent compared to the same period in 2021, amounting to about $35 billion.

In a speech before the Parliamentary Plan and Budget Committee, he added that the average tourist spending amounted to $90 per night.

Ersoy pointed out that the Turkish Tourism Development Agency organized campaigns to promote tourism in 200 countries around the world using traditional and digital means of communication, including advertisements in magazines, newspapers and television channels, in addition to promotional companies and social media applications.

He explained that the number of facilities that hold an “environmentally friendly residence facility certificate” in Turkey amounted to 446 facilities until last October, while the number of beds for the mentioned facilities reached 289,763.

He stated that Turkey ranked sixth in the world as the most attractive country for tourists in 2019, according to data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

He added that Turkey rose to the fourth rank in the world as the country most receiving tourists during the year 2021, despite the difficulties caused by the Corona pandemic.

He pointed out that Turkey received 40.25 million tourists during the first nine months of this year, an increase of 87 percent over last year.

And he indicated that tourism revenues achieved about $35 billion in 9 months, an increase of 68 percent over the corresponding period of 2021.

He added that the government aims to increase the number of tourists to more than 50 million by the end of this year, and tourism revenues to reach $44 billion.

Tourism in Turkey relies heavily on a variety of historical and natural sites and beach resorts along the coasts of the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, and Turkey has recently turned into a favorite destination for culture and medical tourism.

The city of Istanbul is considered one of the most important tourist sites in Turkey and the world, as it includes a large number of major attractions derived from its historical status as the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, most notably the Sultan Ahmed and Hagia Sophia mosques, in addition to the Topkapi Palace, the Basilica Cistern, the Galata Tower, and the Dolmabahçe Palace.

Turkey also includes 18 heritage sites included in the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization “UNESCO”, the most famous of which is the “Gobekli Tepe” site, which is considered one of the oldest places of worship on earth and dates back to the Stone Age.

Turkey is considered one of the most prominent winter tourism destinations, as it includes 51 ski centers, most notably “Uludağ” in the state of Bursa near Istanbul, “Arges” in the state of Kayseri, and “Balan Dukan” in the state of Erzurum.

Turkey also contains many natural areas and hills, especially in the Black Sea region, including the Ayder plateau, which is distinguished in the state of Rize.

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