Turkey Anticipating Record Numbers of Chinese Arrivals for Forthcoming 2018 Turkey Tourism Year

As bilateral ties between Beijing and Ankara continue to strengthen, so too has Chinese outbound tourism to Turkey. 2017 has seen a return to growth in Chinese arrivals to Turkey, following the large decreases in arrival numbers seen in 2016 amidst security issues in the country. With next year having been designated the Turkey Tourism Year in China, record arrival numbers are being forecast for 2018.

The 99,000 Chinese arrivals to Turkey seen in H1 2017 represent a 14.6 percent year-on-year increase against 2016’s equivalent figure of 86,000, yet this is still far below the 145,000 recorded the first half of 2015. The whole of 2015 ultimately saw 314,000 arrivals from China – the high water mark to date – but this fell by 46.6 percent to 168,000 in 2016.

With Turkey having positioned itself as a key partner in the One Belt, One Road initiative, the country sees growing the Chinese outbound tourism market as a natural complement to enhanced social and economic bilateral ties.

Ahmet Temurci, the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry’s Assistant General Manager of Promotions declared: “[We] expect to achieve record numbers in this area next year by reaching at least half a million Chinese tourists in Turkey.” He furthered that the 2018 Turkey Tourism Year would see a high level of official participation in key tourism fairs in China and that the project would be supplemented by digital and social media marketing strategies.

Should Turkey reach its stated target of 500,00 Chinese arrivals in 2018, the total would represent a 60 percent increase from its 2015 record total.

COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute provides expert insights into the worldwide developments of China’s outbound tourism market. As Chinese outbound tourists are travelling to a large range of destinations, our publications cover a number of regions, providing detailed insights and analysing visitor behaviour.

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Source: COTRI Data, Daily Sabah

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