Turkey climbs in WEF’s Tourism Development Index

Turkey has moved up four places in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Travel and Tourism Development Index to rank 45th among 117 countries in 2021.

Turkey's score also increased 1.3 percent in 2021 from 2019 to 4.2. Overall scores range from 1 to 7, where 1 is the worst and 7 is the best.
The country's tourism industry expects to welcome more international holidaymakers this year as most nations eased travel restrictions, which were introduced amid the coronavirus pandemic, and the COVID situation has improved in Turkey.
Foreign tourist arrivals in Turkey already soared 173 percent to 7.5 million people in January-April from a year ago.
In April alone, nearly 2.6 million foreign tourists visited the country, marking a staggering 226 percent increase compared with the same month last year.

Earlier this month, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy reiterated that Turkey aims to host 42 million foreign tourists and raise $35 billion in tourism revenues this year, up from $24.5 billion in revenues and 30 million tourist arrivals in 2021.

Post-pandemic tourism

The picture looked very different two years later, as COVID-19 lockdowns hit the travel and tourism (T&T) sector hard. In 2020 alone, it faced losses of $4.5 trillion and 62 million jobs, impacting the living standards and well-being of communities across the globe, the WEF said.
"The war in Ukraine has added to instability and economic disruption for the sector. Against this backdrop, the WEF's inaugural Travel and Tourism (T&T) Development Index reflects the growing role of sustainability and resilience in T&T growth, as well as the sector's role in economic and social development more broadly."

The T&T sector is a major driver of...