ISTANBUL: Tourism from Russia has bounced back somewhat, but overall, the number of foreign visitors to Turkey has continued to decline, with data released Tuesday showing January figures were down 9.8% compared to the same month last year. Every month since late 2015 has shown negative growth, during which time the country has been battered by terrorist attacks, including by Islamic State; renewed conflict with Kurdish militants; and a coup attempt by a military faction last summer. Turkey launched cross-border operations inside Syria in August and controls now about 2,000 square-kilometres of land in that country. The Russian rebound – with about 40,000 visitors – put the country in fifth for foreign visitors to Turkey, but still behind Germany and Iran. The numbers are still below averages of recent years. The bounce back comes after Moscow and Ankara patched up relations several months ago. In late 2015, Turkey downed a Russian jet near the Syrian border, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
Turkey still had more than 1 million foreign visitors last month. The country estimates the tourism sector directly contributes just under 5% to the economy, with further knock-on effects. In an effort to shore up the struggling sector, the government is about to make a push to get Turks living abroad to spend their vacations in the country. An estimated 5.5 million people of Turkish descent live abroad, mostly in Europe, according to the Foreign Ministry. The number of visitors to Turkey was down 25% for the whole of 2016, causing revenues to plummet.
