Turkey earned $8.72 billion from tourism in the second quarter of this year, putting it on course for a record year.
Revenue almost tripled from $3 billion in the April-June period of 2021, the Turkish Statistical Institute said on Friday. Visitors jumped to 11.9 million from 4.07 million a year ago.
Tourism income in the first half of the year totalled $14.2 billion, exceeding that of 2019, which was a record year. Back then, Turkey earned $12.6 billion in the first six months, including $7.97 billion in the second quarter, and $34.5 billion in the year as a whole.
Visitors of 18.4 million in the first half of this year are lagging 2019, when they numbered 19.4 million in the first six months.
Turkey is seeking to boost revenue from tourism to help finance a current account deficit that has widened alarmingly this year due to interest rate cuts and a surge in imports. The bigger deficit has pressured the lira, which has lost more than a quarter of its value in 2022 after declining by 44 percent last year.
Ahval