Among the top 10 countries sending the highest number of tourists to Turkey in the first two months of this year, six were neighboring countries -- Iran, Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan and Syria. The ministry expects to see an increase in the number of tourists from its neighbors through to the end of the year.
Evaluating the latest developments for Today’s Zaman, the ministry’s promotion manager, Cumhur Güven Taşbaşı, said on Tuesday in Ankara that Turkey had seen a 6.85 percent increase in the number of tourists last year over 2008, underlining that visitors from neighboring countries had contributed greatly to the increase. Taşbaşı said in addition to its immediate neighbors, Turkey also expected to attract more tourists from the Middle Eastern and Balkan countries than at present. “Over the last few weeks we have been promoting Turkey in Lebanon. Following the end of this campaign we will switch to Tunisia, Algeria and Iran.”
