Cappadocia, a well-known tourist destination in central Türkiye known for its fairy chimneys and hot air balloons, welcomed a record number of visitors at its museums and historical sites in 2023, an official said Thursday.
The picturesque region famed for its rich history, culture and natural beauty continued to be a popular destination for both local and foreign tourists, attracting a total of 4.82 million visitors last year, Nevşehir Governor Ali Fidan noted.
Speaking to journalists, Fidan highlighted that the year 2023 was successful in terms of regional tourism, expressing optimism for this trend to continue to grow in 2024, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
Emphasizing that Cappadocia continues to be a center of attraction with its vast geography and unique beauties, Fidan said: "With its natural beauties, historical and cultural values listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the Cappadocia region and our province host millions of domestic and foreign visitors every year."
"Our province contributes significantly to the promotion of our country and its economy in this aspect," he added.
"The tourism sector plays an important role in the prosperity and employment of our province. We see that our visitor count reached 4,826,662 in the year 2023. This is the highest figure of all time and a record," the governor explained.
Looking at figures from previous years, the latest numbers reflect a significant increase in tourism compared to annual visitors number over the last decade, affirming growing interest in Cappadocia.
The museums and historical sites in Cappadocia were visited by some 2.85 million tourists back in 2014, followed by 2.6 million in 2015 and some 1.49 million a year later.
The figure of 2.2 million visits was observed in 2017 and the visits surged close to 3 million for the first time in 2018, followed by a significant uptick to 3.83 million in 2019, often dubbed as the "golden year" for tourism.
With the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the figures dropped to shy of 992,620 visitors in 2020, followed by 2.28 million in 2021 and 4.19 million in 2022.