Turkey hopes to maintain last year’s tourist numbers despite bird flu and religious friction
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Tourism Minister Atilla Koc said he does not expect Turkey to meet a target of attracting 26 million tourists this year, after arrivals fell 14 percent in the first quarter. «If extraordinary conditions do not emerge, we will exceed 21 million arrivals this year but cannot reach 26 million,» he told reporters. Tourism revenues are a vital source of foreign income for Turkey as it looks to rein in a large current account deficit. «The tourism sector has had some difficulties because of bird flu, the crisis about cartoons (of the Prophet Muhammad) and the killing of the Italian priest,» Koc said. An outbreak of bird flu killed four people in Turkey at the start of the year, scaring off some tourists, and an Italian priest was later murdered in Trabzon on the Black Sea coast. The Turkish Tourism Investors’ Association (TYD) said two weeks ago that European tourism bookings for summer holidays to Turkey have fallen 40 percent year-on-year due to foreign factors and a strong currency. A total of 21.1 million people visited Turkey last year, and the government has said it hopes for more than $20 billion in revenues this year.
