A rebound in tourism to Turkey has been confirmed to almost reach pre-pandemic levels.
Tourist arrivals exceeded 51.4 million in 2022, just shy of a record 51.8 million attracted to the country in 2019.
Tourism revenues rose by 19% over the 2019 total to hit $46.3 billion.
The country now plans a multi-million dollar boost to its global promotional activities.
Culture and tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said: “These results certify that Turkey had a great come-back after the pandemic, and we are confident to bring 90 million tourists and achieve $100 billion in tourism revenues by the end of 2028.
“To reach our targets in the next five years, we will focus on market diversification, global promotion and branding of our specific regions and products, as well as creating a sustainable tourism eco-system.
“Turkey is the first country in the world to sign a collaboration agreement with Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) on a government level. Our agreement with GSTC mandates a three-step plan until the end of 2030 and by this time we will have a 100% sustainable tourism eco-system in our country.
“Our branding and global promotion activities will increase year by year, and by the end of 2028, we will have a total of 9 destination and 20 product sub-brands, presenting the entire tourism and culture offering of our country to the entire world.
“We will sustain diversity and continuity in communication, thus operating with a $225 million marketing communications budget by 2028.”