Turkey tourism grew in 2017

Turkey tourist numbers continue to rise, with the destination drawing 30.7 million foreign visitors in the first 11 months of 2017.

Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry said the figure rose by over a quarter - 27.7 per cent - on a yearly basis, compared to 24 million in January-November 2016. The number of foreign arrivals saw a 22.13 per cent year-on-year increase in November, hitting 1.65 million.

Russian nationals made up the largest group of visitors, with a 15.3 per cent of share in total arrivals - some 4.6 million - in the first 11 months of the year, followed by Germans (11.2 per cent) and Iranians (7.5 per cent). By comparison, Canadian arrivals to Turkey between January and November 2017 totalled 75,064.

The month seeing the most foreign visits was July with around 5.1 million, followed by August with 4.6 million.

Official data also showed that most visitors arrived by air, with 22.4 million travelers, while 7.6 million came by rail and around 750,000 visitors by boat.