Ferit Turgut

Turkish hoteliers are hopeful that the country may continue to attract visitors from Europe in the coming months as the energy crisis there could lure people to spend their winters in warmer destinations.

This could be the busiest winter season in the past three years, according to people from the industry.

The number of foreign tourists visiting the province of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast may reach 12 million this year, according to a trading group.

More than 9 million foreign holidaymakers arrived in the city by plane between January and Aug. 31, data from the provincial directorate of culture and tourism showed.

Turkey's Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, one of the famous tourism destinations of the world, hosted over 1.5 million tourists in the first six months of 2021, tourism sector authorities said on July 7.

More than a million people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the Turkish resort city of Antalya.

A total of 1,007,920 doses have been administered to some 73 percent of the target population, according to Ünal Hülür, the provincial health director for Antalya.