Turkey's tourism sector to plummet 70 pct in 2020 due to pandemic
Source: Xinhua | 2020-12-11
Turkey's tourism sector is projected to decrease by 70 percent in 2020 as foreign tourist numbers plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said on Thursday.
"It seems that we will end the year with a 70 percent decrease in the number of foreign tourists and a 67 to 68 percent decrease in tourism revenues," Ersoy said at the opening of the 4th Istanbul Economy Summit.
The minister noted that at the beginning of 2020, Turkey's projection for the year's tourism was higher than ever as it had received a significant advance bookings from abroad in January and February.
"Our goal for this year was to host 58 million foreign tourists with 41 billion dollars of revenue," Ersoy said, adding that the coronavirus pandemic made the goal impossible.
However, the minister added that Turkey expects a significant recovery with a 100 percent growth in the tourism sector after the pandemic.
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