Antalya

Turkey attracted 12.03 million foreign visitors in the first 11 months of 2020, the country's Culture and Tourism Ministry said on Dec. 25. 

The figures fell 71.95% year-on-year in the January-November period from 42.9 million, the official data showed, as expected, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and measures to stem it.

The top Turkish diplomat is set to pay a visit to Sochi next week and meet his Russian counterpart, according to diplomatic sources.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will meet with Sergey Lavrov on Dec. 29. The two officials are expected to address bilateral relations as well as regional issues.

He rides a reindeer-drawn sleigh, makes toys in the North Pole with the help of elves and brings gifts to children through chimneys. Father Christmas is an indispensable part of Christmas every year across the world. But little is known that he was a native of what is today Antalya, a tourist hotspot on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

Turkey recorded 112,483 house sales in November, down 18.7% year-on-year, the country's statistical office announced on Dec. 15. 

"Istanbul had the highest share of house sales with 18.8% and 21,158 houses," TÜİK said in a statement.

The capital Ankara and the Aegean province of Izmir followed Istanbul with 10,710 and 6,574 house sales, respectively.

Turkey's health minister says his country has no plans to make vaccination against the new coronavirus mandatory but will work to convince the public about the safety of the vaccines.

With a groundbreaking new virus test available at check-in, with speedy results, Turkish-German joint venture SunExpress is looking to take the worry out of air travel in the age of coronavirus.

Turkey welcomed some 11.2 million foreign visitors during the first 10 months of 2020, the country's Culture and Tourism Ministry said on Nov. 23.

During lockdowns and travel restrictions worldwide due to the pandemic, the number of foreigners visiting the country posted a decline by around 72.5% on a yearly basis, the ministry data showed.

The resumption of flights between Turkey and Russia amid strong measures to fight coronavirus set off a flood of tourists, with 80 airplanes full of Russian tourists landing in the resort city of Antalya in just one day, according to local officials.

In Turkey, 434,757 residential properties were sold in the first five months of 2020, the country's statistical authority announced on June 15.

Housing sales dropped 2.2% or 9,684 units in the five-month period, compared to the same period last year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) data.

A beach on the Turkish Mediterranean has set up social distancing areas and rules to guard against any new coronavirus outbreak.

Under a pilot program on Konyaaltı Beach in the resort city of Antalya, 9 square meter private areas have been set up with a distance of 1.5-2 m between them.