With the recovery of marine tourism and the waning of the effects of Corona, the number of visitors in the ancient city of Efes, western Turkey, approached 10,000 people per day, after their number decreased significantly during the epidemic.
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The ancient city of Efes is located in the state of Izmir and attracts visitors from all over the world, with its many attractions such as the Gelsos Library, the houses on the hills, the ancient archaeological theater and majestic temples.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included the city of Ephesus on the list of World Cultural Heritage in 2015 because it contains many historical and cultural monuments dating back to 6,500 BC.
The city began to return to its previous state before the spread of the epidemic, as tourists from all over the world and all age groups began filling the ancient streets of the city of Efes, which has a history of thousands of years, and immortalized their visit by taking souvenir photos.
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The director of the Archaeological Museum of Ephesus, Cengiz Topal, explained that the ancient city is one of the oldest archaeological excavations sites in the world.
Topal stated that the Gelsus Library has gained recognition on all international platforms after the end of its archaeological excavations.
He pointed out that it is possible to easily observe the ancient and historical atmosphere in the city, with its gates, streets and ancient buildings, pointing out that the history of the city extends back to 6,500 years BC.
Tobal stated that they evaluate the tourism activity in the region according to the pre-epidemic and post-epidemic periods, as the number of visitors before the epidemic amounted to two million people annually, and sometimes it was more than that, but the number shrank during the period of the spread of Corona and fell to 400,000 visitors.
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He added that the number of visitors to Efes reached 600,000 last year, and that it has begun to witness an increase in the number of tourists since the beginning of this year.
He said that the number of visitors reached 215,000 until the end of last April, and that the average number of tourists per day ranged between 8-10 thousand, expressing his hope that it would reach the pre-epidemic figures until the end of this year.
Topal indicated that most of the visitors come to the ports of Izmir and Gush Adasi via cruises.
He continued, “The number of visitors varies according to the size of the cruise ships. About 5,000 visitors come to the ancient city of Efes on the days when three ships arrive at the port of Kosh Adasi.”
He continued, “The dates of the visit differ according to the nationalities of the visitors. Most of the arrivals via cruises are Americans and Europeans, in addition to visitors from the Far East, but they come in the fall.”
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He pointed out that some tourists come with tourist holiday programs and some come individually, and that there is an increase in the number of local tourists.
Dewi Hidayat, a visitor from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, said she is fond of Turkey and this is her second visit.
She added that she is visiting the ancient city of Efes, which she was deeply affected by, for the first time, expressing her great admiration for the city and its history, and her desire to come to it again.
As for Melko Stefanov, from the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, he said that he had come to Turkey before to visit Istanbul and had aspired to see the ancient city of Ephesus, so he decided to come again with his friends to visit it.
He added that he had seen many ancient ancient cities before that, but the city of Ephesus differed from all of them and enjoyed a special beauty.
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In addition to the tourists who visit the area through cruises and others, tours and student trips to the city are organized.
Alper Yilmaz, a faculty member in the Archeology Department at the Faculty of Science at May 19 University, said that they came to Efes with a group of 51 students to see the city’s monuments.
He stressed that study trips to archaeological sites in Western Anatolia are very useful for students, as they feel excitement and enthusiasm when seeing the buildings, cities, and historical and archaeological landmarks they are studying.
