TURKEY WELCOMES 11.3 MILLION TOURISTS FROM JANUARY TO MAY

The number of foreigners visiting Turkey jumped 207.1% to 11.3 million in January-May, compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Istanbul welcomed 46.8% of all foreign visitors, or nearly 5.3 million, in the five-month period. It was followed by Antalya with 2.25 million foreign tourists and Edirne with 1.3 million foreign visitors. As for the nationalities of foreign tourists, Germany took the first place with 11.6% – nearly 1.3 million visitors – over the same period, followed by Bulgaria (8.4%) and Russia (7.55%). In May alone, 3.8 million foreigners visited the country, up 308.5% on a yearly basis.