Antalya May Lose $1.5 Billion In Tourism Revenue This Year

- The Mediterranean resort province of Antalya’s tourism revenue may drop by $1.5 billion this year, as the number of tourists visiting the province, mainly from Russia, has decreased by more than 10 percent, according to the head of the Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO).

“The number of tourists visiting Antalya decreased by 255,000 from the previous year as of May 21, representing an 11 percent decrease. Almost 80 percent of this decrease was due to the dramatic decline in the number of Russian visitors. We also see decreases in the number of tourists visiting Antalya from other countries, including the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, France, Denmark, Norway, Belgium and Israel. The number of British tourists visiting Spain increased by 10 percent in the first months of the year, although we saw around a 6 percent decrease in the number of British tourists… If the decreasing trend continues in tourism figures, we’ll lose around $1.5 billion in tourism revenue this year” said ATSO head Davut Çetin, at the organization’s monthly general meeting.

He said he hoped to see some recovery in the coming months and a full recovery by next year, adding that incentives in the sector should be extended to improve the conditions.

The number of tourists arriving in Antalya by air decreased by 11 percent to 1.2 million in the first four months of 2015 in comparison to the same period of the previous year, according to official data compiled by the Doğan News Agency.

Hotels in the province have lost around 55 million euros in revenue due to the decline in tourist numbers, said the Association of Mediterranean Tourism and Hoteliers of Turkey (AKTOB) in a report on May 22.