Turkey's tourist market set to grow

Wednesday March 12th , 2008

Turkey is likely to attract a greater number of foreign arrivals this year, according to a leading figure in the holiday sector.

Ahmet Barut, chairman of Turkish Hotels Federation, said that a record number of people are likely to visit the country in 2008.

He told TurkishPress.com that he is expecting about 27 million holidaymakers this year - up from 23.5 million in 2007.

Many of these are likely to be from other European countries, he predicted.

Mr Barut commented: "The number of tourists coming to Turkey from EU member states will increase by around ten per cent and reach a number of 12 million."

He added that there had recently been "great interest" in Turkey during the recent Berlin Tourism Fair.

Sarah Brown from NuBricks.com recently predicted that plans to double annual visitor numbers in the next 15 years could potentially trigger a property boom in the country.