Number of Russian tourists visiting Antalya soars in first half of 2017

ANTALYA - Doğan News Agency

The number of Russian tourists visiting the Mediterranean resort of Antalya rose to 1.1 million in the first six months of the year, up from only 25,000 in the same period of 2016, data from Antalya Airport has showed. 

A total of 584,000 Russians visited Antalya in June, according to official data released on July 1, up from just 7,718 in June 2016, amid diplomatic tension between Ankara and Moscow. 

Some 1.2 million tourists arrived in Antalya in June, with an increase of more than 100 percent year-on-year. 

The number of tourists visiting the resort rose to 2.8 million in the first half of the year with a 45 percent year-on-year increase. 

However, Antalya continued to lose tourists from another important market, Germany. A total of 645,000 Germans visited Antalya in the first six months of the year, a 24 percent year-on-year decrease. The first half of 2017 figure was also 46 percent lower than the same figure in 2015. 

Tourist arrivals from other key European markets also dropped nearly half in 2017 compared to 2016, but the number of tourists visiting Antalya from Ukraine and Israel surged.

A total of 234,000 Ukrainian tourists arrived in Antalya in the first half of the year with a 52 percent year-on-year increase. 

The number of arrivals from Israel also hit 75,000 in the first six months of the year with a 56 percent increase compared to the same period of 2016.