In a press conference held in Istanbul Atatürk Kültür Merkezi, Ersoy said that number of visitors that Türkiye host in June increased by 12,50% to 6,3 million comparing same mont of last year.

Six months visitor number between January to June increased by 17,5% to 23 million. Türkiye hosted 19.5 million visitors in same period of 2022.

Tourist spending per nigjht reached 100 dollar

Culture and Tourism Minister of Türkiye, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy emphasized that while number of overnight stay of tourists decreased by 5,5 percent from 10,5 to 9,9, spending per tourist per night has jumped 11,9% to 100 dollar from 89. "Thanks to the correct policies we have implemented in the past 5 years, per capita spending by tourists has increased by 50%." Ersoy said.

Why were luxury hotels not fully booked?

Regarding the low occupancy rates in luxury hotels in Türkiye, Ersoy made the following statements:

"There are four main reasons for low occupancy of luxury properties. First, the earthquake disaster and elections coincided with the early reservation period. Second, cool weather conditions persisted until June due to the climate. Third, citizens of Russian speaking countries that heavily bought properties, used them not only for their own holidays but also sold them to others. Lastly, the global recession and decreasing of purchasing power of people."

"We are the most active and effective country in terms of promotion."

Minister Ersoy pointed out that this situation can be overcome with market and product diversity, stating, "We have been working on market diversification for the past 5 years. We are making significant investments in developing source markets. Likewise, we are investing heavily in product diversification. To be successful in market and product diversification, we are conducting intensive and effective product promotion. Currently, we are the country making the most active and effective promotion in 200 countries."