Türkiye's tourism industry is recovering from a major setback caused by devastating earthquakes that hit the southern part of the country in February, business insiders said.
The number of tourism bookings rose by nearly 40 percent in mid-March compared with that of last year, after a one-and-a-half months slowdown following the earthquakes, said Hamit Kuk, a consultant of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies.
Ali Bahar, president of the Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said an upcoming nine-day vacation is also expected to boost the domestic demand for tourism services.
In 2022, Türkiye hosted 51.3 million foreign visitors, who contributed 46.3 billion U.S. dollars in tourism revenues, up from 38.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.