Turkey will boost its investment in the UK in 2013 in the form of road-shows and bespoke online training programmes for the trade.
The plans to educate the trade further about the country’s great value and diversity were unveiled at WTM as the Turkish Tourism Office revealed that UK arrivals in the year to September exceeded two million, against 2.6 million for the whole of 2011.
Turkish tourism and culture minister Ozgur Ozaslan said: “Turkish tourism has registered remarkable and consistent growth over the past two decades.
“In 1980, Turkey received 1.2 million visitors, a figure which has increased more than 26-fold over the past 32 years, reaching 31.4 million visitors in 2011.
“International tourism receipts increased a spectacular 60-fold, placing Turkey ninth position in the world for international tourism receipts according to the UNWTO.
“Latest figures indicate that Turkey’s growth trajectory will continue on its upward trend which is even more remarkable given the global downturn; as of September 2012, the incoming travel volume had already surpassed 25.7 million, exceeding the number of arrivals during the same period in 2011.
“Our target for 2023, exactly 100 years since the founding of the Turkish Republic, will be to achieve at least 50 million visitors annually and become fifth in the world for international arrivals.”
Turkey’s presence at WTM is greater than ever with a record 68 partner stand-holders participating.