Source::Xinhua
Turkey despite facing many problems and setbacks in addition to the pandemic, has managed to double its tourism revenue in 2021, raising hope for the speedy recovery for its travel and tourism businesses.The tourism revenue in 2021 rose by 103 per cent amounting to a huge 24.48 billion US dollars as income for the country.
In 2019, tourism had generated about 34.5 billion for the Turkish economy from about 45 million tourists in the country. Therefore, it was a huge hit when the COVID-19 caused over a 70% loss in the sector. In addition, it was particularly hit hard in 2021 when Russia closed all flights going to Turkey for three months due to rising daily cases, hitting the touristy coastal regions a disproportionate amount.
In addition to the pandemic, multiple massive wildfires had taken place in the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, causing travellers to cancel their plans and slowing tourism revenues. And the Turkish lira, its national currency had depreciated by about 44 per cent against its value to the dollar, causing exports to be cheaper and revenue to fall.
But Turkey has pulled out of 2021 better than before with the tourism income increasing by 95% in the last quarter of the year which lead to 7.63 billion dollars. Meanwhile, the vaccination in Turkey has gone in full force with 141 million doses being administered with an 84.38% of the population with the age of 18 or above being vaccinated.
