Turkey is Catching up with Spain on Tourism Revenue

Turkey's tourism sector boomed in 2019 with a 17% jump in revenue and a 14.1% increase in visitor numbers. Thus it is catching up with Spain, the main competitor in the sector. This is indicated by a study by the Mediterranean Travel Operators Association (MEOA).

The number of nights spent by international tourists in 2014 was 123.7 million in Spain and 104.3 million in Turkey. The difference of 19.4 million in the number of nights spent in Turkey and Spain in 2014 widened further between 2016 and 2017, when the tourism sector declined in Turkey. The number of nights dropped to 74 million in 2017, which created a difference of 58 million between Spain and Turkey.

Since the beginning of 2018, the tourism sector in Turkey has started to flourish again, data for the first 10 months of 2019 showed. During this period, a total of 123.7 million nights were recorded in Turkey, while nights in Spain amounted to 137.3 million.

Tourism revenue reached $ 34.5 billion last year, a record high, according to a report by the Turkish Statistical Institute (Turkstat).

The increasing numbers are also increasing the contribution of the tourism sector to the country's economic growth.