Russia sets new record for number of tourists visiting Turkey - Erdogan

ISTANBUL, November 19. /TASS/. Over 5 million tourists from Russia visited Turkey in the first nine months of this year thus setting a new record, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. "Relations between our countries are developing in many areas, including tourism. More than five million tourists from Russia visited our country in the first nine months of this year. That’s a new record," he said at a ceremony to complete the construction of the TurkStrum gas pipeline’s sea leg. In the 2010s, Turkey was one of the most popular tourist destination for Russians, along with Egypt. According to the Federal Agency for Tourism, in 2012, 2.5 mln Russian tourists visited Turkish resorts, in 2013 - 3.1 mln, while in 2014 their number reached 3.3 mln. In 2015, 3.5 mln Russians (10.1% of the overall number of Russian tourists traveling abroad) spent vacations in Turkey. After a ban on charter flights between Russia and Turkey was imposed, the number of Russians traveling to that country diminished dramatically. According to the Federal Agency for Tourism, in 2016, the tourist flow from Russia dropped more than 76% to 866,000 people. In 2017, the situation changed, with 4.5 mln Russians visiting Turkey. According to the Association of Russia’s Tour Operators, the number of Russian tourists will reach 5.5 mln by the end of 2018, which is a 20% increase compared to 2017. Read more