Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at February 15th, 2009

Relying on their common history that spans thousands of years, Syria and Turkey look forward to increased cooperation. Speaking to Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Syria’s tourism minister says Damascus sees Ankara as a natural partner for establishing peace and increasing wealth in the region

Tourism may create a bridge to a common Middle Eastern understanding through increasing interaction between Middle East societies, according to a top Syrian official who said Turkey-Syria relations could be important for the region’s future.

Syria’s Tourism Minister Saadalla Agha al-Kalaa, speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on the sidelines of the 13th East Mediterranean International Tourism and Travel Fair, or EMITT, in Istanbul last week, said enhancing bilateral relations should be considered to enhance the welfare of the Middle East. (more…)

Posted by meb at February 11th, 2009

Conference tourism has also been hit by the global turmoil, says Talha Çamaş, who has much experience in the sector. The attendance to the next few conferences, including the International Monetary Fund and the Fifth World Water Forum meetings, is expected to drop, he says.

Conference tourism suffers in Turkey The global crisis is shaping the travel preferences of tourists, according to a prominent figure in conference tourism in Istanbul, who says the situation is also affecting the activity of international conferences. (more…)

Posted by meb at February 9th, 2009

İstanbul Atatürk Airport saw the highest increase in air traffic in Europe in 2008, according to a recent report prepared by Eurocontrol, the European organization for the safety of air navigation. Becoming the 10th busiest airport in Europe, air traffic at the İstanbul airport increased by 5 percent in 2008 over the previous year.

“İstanbul Atatürk Airport is also scheduled to grow rapidly over the coming years. The combination of this growth and the continuing strength of growth trends in Turkey, in particular the growth of tourism, mean that around 2010, Istanbul will join the limited number of airports where capacity is restricting growth,” the report stated. (more…)

Posted by meb at January 7th, 2009

Germans and Russians were the largest groups of foreign tourists choosing Antalya as a vacation destination in 2008, officials from the Antalya Culture and Tourism Department said on Monday.
Officials said a total of 9.9 million tourists, including Turkish expats, visited Antalya in 2008. Germans topped the list of foreigners who vacationed in Antalya, they added.

Around 2.3 million Germans visited Antalya last year. The number of German tourists visiting the city was up 4.56 percent in 2008 over 2007. According to officials, the number of Russian tourists visiting Antalya in 2008 was up 20.10 percent over 2007, reaching 2.1 million. (more…)

Posted by meb at December 24th, 2008

The number of airline passengers in Turkey reached 66 million in the first 10 months of 2008, an increase of 6.3 percent over the same period last year, the State Airports Management General Directorate (DHMİ) announced yesterday.

Nearly 7 million people traveled by air in October, an 8.2 percent increase over the same month of 2007. The total number of flights in January-October 2008 increased by 7.4 percent over the same period of 2007.

In the first 10 months of 2008, İstanbul Atatürk Airport saw 20.1 million passengers, while Antalya Airport followed with 17.7 million passengers. İzmir’s Adnan Menderes Airport had the third-largest number of travelers, welcoming 4.7 million people, while Esenboğa Airport in Ankara hosted 4.6 million people in the same period. Aviation companies in Turkey have continued their attractive promotional campaigns, discounting airfares despite the ongoing global financial crisis. This has led to more people showing a greater interest in air travel. (more…)

Posted by meb at December 12th, 2008

Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum has bought a 40 percent stake in private developer Damac Properties that plans to invest $6 billion in a Turkish coastal project, Vatan daily reported on Friday.

The project includes construction of hotels, houses, shopping malls and marinas on the southwest coast of Turkey, which attracts millions of tourists every summer.

“Dubai’s Sheikh al-Maktoum will gain a right in the project by buying 40 percent in the group,” said Cenk Fis Unlucerci, an official at Debba, a subsidiary of Damac Properties in Turkey, was quoted as telling Vatan newspaper. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 24th, 2008

The number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose 14.38 percent year-on-year in October to 2.462 million, the Culture and Tourism Ministry said on Monday.

Tourism is an important source of foreign currency for Turkey, which has a large current account deficit. In September the number of foreign visitors had grown 6.49 percent from a year earlier.

The number of foreign tourists in the first ten months of the year rose 13.40 percent from a year earlier to 23.977 million.

Germany sent the highest number of tourists to Turkey in October, with a total of 499,874 making up 20.30 percent of all arrivals, followed by Britain which accounted for 9.41 percent of visitors. (more…)

Posted by meb at November 21st, 2008

Turkey is taking bold action to increase its $400 million share in the health tourism sector, currently standing at $120 billion.

Considering that mainstream tourism options need to be diversified in Turkey, sector representatives are seeking to make sure that visitors choose Turkey not only for its sand and sun, but also for its enticing health offers. To this end, 23 institutions will jointly hold Turkey’s first health tourism fair in Antalya, from Feb. 26-March 1, 2009.

The primary goal of the ANFAŞ (Antalya Exhibition Center Company) Hetex Health Tourism Fair, where specialized institutions from 105 countries will be invited, is to increase Turkey’s share in the field to $1 billion. Meanwhile, Turkish companies view Europe, as well as the US, as an important market for health tourism considering that 46 million people are not covered by insurance in the US. Health tourism offers include eye and dental examinations and plastic surgery. (more…)