Number of tourist arrivals surges in March

Turkstat released information on tourist arrivals and departures based on provisional data provided by the General Directorate of Security. The number of tourists coming in by sea increased by 72.7 percent, by air 22.8 percent, by train 7.5 percent and over land by 7.2 percent compared to March 2006.

The number of tourists from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries increased the most, with 29.1 percent, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) with 22.9 percent.

The largest drops were from the countries of Oceania with 84.6 percent and North and South American countries with 13.9 percent. Regarding the January-March period, the highest increases were from the CIS with 24.2 percent. The OECD countries followed them with 23.6 percent. Again for the three-month period, the highest decreases were seen in the number of tourists coming from Oceania with 62.5 percent and people from North and South American countries with 9.8 percent.

Germany sent the most tourists to Turkey in March, followed by Iran, Bulgaria, Russia, Georgia, the UK, the US, France, the Netherlands and Azerbaijan. Of all tourists in Turkey, 61.8 percent came from these 10 countries. In March 2007, departing visitors also increased at a considerable rate, by 20.8 percent.

According to country groups departing from Turkey, OECD countries topped the list with 43.1 percent. African countries were second with 27.5 percent over the same period last year. The highest decreases were from Oceania countries with 50 percent and stateless people with 3.5 percent. With respect to the nationalities, departing foreigners from Germany led the list again, followed by Bulgaria, Iran, Russia, Georgia, the US, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Azerbaijan. These 10 countries accounted for 61.2 percent of the total number of departing foreigners.