Hundreds of thousands of foreign holidaymakers continue to pour into Türkiye’s Mediterranean tourism gem as demand signals a continued momentum after a nine-day Eid al-Adha holiday that saw millions hit the road to vacation resorts.
Arrivals in Antalya reached daily records and peaked during the Qurban Bayram, or Eid al-Adha, holiday. The religious holiday generally lasts four days, but Türkiye extended the break to cover the period from June 24 through July 2.
The southern resort city saw more than 10,290 planes land and take off over the past 10 days alone, according to the data from the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMI) on Wednesday.
Airports in the region served more than 1.7 million passengers arriving and departing on domestic and international flights. Antalya Airport saw 1,188 flights and welcomed 199,419 passengers on July 1 alone, marking an all-time high.
The influx has seen more than 5.5 million tourists arrive in Antalya in the first half of the year, according to the data, with mobility peaking during the Qurban Bayram, which generally prompts a massive movement across the country as millions hit the road for their hometowns or holiday resorts.
According to Kaan Kavaloğlu, deputy head of the Touristic Hoteliers Association (AKTOB), accommodation facilities in the southern province were fully booked during the religious holiday.
Kavaloğlu says July started with a record tourist inflow, emphasizing that arrivals signaled that the mobility would continue throughout the month as well as August.
This year’s momentum has been driven by an influx of tourists from Europe, particularly Germany and the United Kingdom, besides arrivals from Russia, partly due to flight restrictions imposed by Western nations over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Among others, the data also showed high demand from Poland, Romania, Israel, Kazakhstan, Czechia, Moldova and Austria.
Kavaloğlu particularly cited high interest from Germany, Poland and the U.K.
"We did not think we could easily reach the 2019 figures due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, but I think we will reach over 15 million tourists by the end of the year with the increase in Russian and German arrivals exceeding 2019 figures, and the demands in markets such as Poland and the U.K.," he noted.
"The British market is also of great importance to us. For the first time, the number of people coming from the U.K. exceeded 1 million last year, and we expect over 1.5 million Britons this year," he added.
Kavaloğlu stressed what he cited as an important fact that Antalya creates a resource market of more than 1 million tourists.
"Because there is a loss of close to 90% in Ukraine, an important market. The British market filled in the gap of the Ukrainian market," he said.
The official says the industry envisages the season in Antalya could extend through the end of the year.
"Bookings from Germany, Russia and the U.K. are continuing; we anticipate that September and October will also go well," said Kavaloğlu.
Rıza Perçin, regional chair for the Aegean at Türkiye Travel Agencies Union (TÜRSAB), said the mobility in Antalya continues with foreign tourists despite the end of the Qurban Bayram.
"If there is no major setback, we anticipate reaching 17 million in Antalya," said Perçin. He added this should not come as a surprise as the province had hosted 15.5 million people before.
Although in small numbers, he said they have been welcoming guests from countries "we have never heard of, of which we don’t even know the capital."