Germans continue to show interest in Türkiye’s tourism

Following a month since the deadly Feb. 6 quakes, Türkiye's tourism sector is gearing up to prepare for the summer season as Germans continue to show increasing interest, a sector representative says, adding that the sector, which expects 60 million tourists and $56 billion in revenue this year, is discussing the impact of the earthquake.

There is good news from Germany for those in the sector who were worried about cancelations in the first days after Feb. 6 earthquakes.

Norbert Fiebig, president of the Association of German Travel Agencies (DRV), said that Türkiye was the number one choice of German tourists.

Answering Hürriyet's questions at the Berlin International Tourism Fair (ITB), the world's largest tourism fair, which is being held for the first time this year after a three-year break, Fiebig said he was sure that interest in Türkiye would continue to grow.

"In the first few days after the earthquake, there was a drop in bookings to Türkiye," Fiebig said. "However, this was quickly overcome. Türkiye has regained its number one position for summer holiday bookings. We estimate that the pre-pandemic figures will be comfortably reached in 2023. Although it is not easy to make a clear prediction, we expect a record number of tourists from Germany to Türkiye this year."

According to the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the number of tourists coming from Germany between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28. was 79,797, making Germany the second biggest tourism market for Türkiye after Russia.

According to official data, 5.3 million tourists came to Türkiye from Germany in 2019, with the number decreasing to 2.1 million in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of German tourists visiting Türkiye increased again in 2021, reaching 4.7...