After grim 2016, Turkish tourism makes a comeback

Tourists have returned in droves to Turkey, helped this summer by the sharp fall in the value of the Turkish lira following economic uncertainty and a rift with the United States.

Turkey's plunging currency and the dispute with the United States have, for sure, fed fears of economic hardship. The tourism sector, though, battered by mass casualties in bombings and an attempted coup in 2016, is again a bright spot – and source of vital foreign currency – for the troubled economy.

Nearly 19 million people – 16 million of them foreigners and the rest Turks living abroad – visited Turkey in the first six months of this year, a 29 percent increase over the same period in 2017, according to the government. [AP]