Minister Ersoy attended the World Travel Market (WTM), one of the world’s leading tourism industry events, held in London. Speaking to the press there, he said that WTM offers an important opportunity to engage with tourism professionals and to gain insights into both the closing of the current season and the opening of the next one.
Recalling the recently announced nine-month tourism data, Ersoy stated: “Turkey has completed the first nine months of the year with 50 million visitors and $50 billion in tourism revenue. This represents a 1.6% increase in visitor numbers and a 5.7% rise in revenue. We can see that we are confidently on track to reach our year-end tourism income target of $64 billion. October also performed very well, with higher-than-average reservation and visitor inflows. We expect November and December to follow a similar positive trend.”
Ersoy noted that while certain developments in the region temporarily slowed the flow of bookings during the tourism season, subsequent promotional campaigns successfully revitalized the momentum.
“Turkey Carried Out 765 Archaeological Excavations Last Year”
Regarding the UK market, Ersoy stated, “We will close this year with 4.25 million visitors from the UK. Our target for next year is to exceed 4.5 million visitors.” He emphasized that, in addition to the UK, Turkey is focusing on new source markets such as Ireland and Eastern European countries. “Turkey has moved beyond the traditional ‘sea, sand, and sun’ image. For the past seven to eight years, we have been making extensive investments in diversifying both tourism products and source markets, and the positive results are now reflected in the figures,” he said.
Highlighting the importance of archaeological work, Ersoy added:
“Last year, Turkey carried out archaeological excavations at 765 sites. Out of 265 excavation directorates, 251 now operate year-round under the ‘Heritage for the Future’ program.”
“All Restaurants in Turkey Are Now Under the Michelin Star Review Radar”
Touching on the country’s achievements in gastronomy, Ersoy said that following Istanbul’s inclusion in the Michelin Guide, the destinations of İzmir, Urla, Çeşme, and Bodrum were also added to the selection, with Cappadocia set to join this year.
“In the coming years, the entire country will fall under the Michelin Guide’s review scope. Initially, cities are added one by one, and once a certain capacity is reached, the coverage expands nationwide. From now on, all restaurants across Turkey are under the Michelin star review radar, which reflects the significant progress we’ve made in gastronomy,” he said.
Ersoy emphasized that Turkey will continue its strategy, launched seven years ago, to spread tourism across all 12 months and all 81 provinces, as well as to diversify source markets. He underlined that the focus is not only on quantity but also on quality.
“We aim to attract tourists with higher non-accommodation spending, and this has been positively reflected in the recent data. When we analyze foreign tourist revenues, the average per-night spending rose from around $107 last year to $116 in the first nine months of this year. We expect to close the year at approximately $118 per night per visitor, and we plan to continue increasing this figure year by year,” he said.
“Göbeklitepe Exhibition Planned for England and Germany”
When asked whether the Göbeklitepe exhibition—previously held at the Colosseum in Rome—would be organized in other countries, Ersoy said the Rome exhibition had been visited by a record-breaking 6 million people.
“We are currently considering organizing it in England and Germany. We plan to hold the exhibition in England in September next year and in Berlin in 2026. Our goal is to expand this exhibition to several countries, especially across Europe,” he stated.
Following his remarks, Minister Ersoy toured the stands promoting Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) at the fair, and held bilateral meetings with Fikri Ataoğlu, the TRNC Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth, and Environment.
As part of the event, Ersoy also met with executives from major tour operators such as TUI, EasyJet Holidays, and Jet2 Holidays, as well as with Maldives Minister of Tourism and Environment Thoriq Ibrahim, to discuss potential areas of cooperation.
WTM: A Key Global Hub for Tourism Professionals
Recognized as the world’s second-largest tourism fair, the World Travel Market (WTM) is one of the most important global gatherings for the travel and tourism industry. This year’s event, held from November 4–6, brought together key players and professionals from across the travel market.
Turkey participated with a 909-square-meter stand, featuring 76 sector representatives as sub-exhibitors. The Turkish stand highlighted the country’s diverse destinations and tourism offerings, while visitors were treated to local delicacies, including products with geographical indications.