Tourism in Turkey after the COVID-19 pandemic
While the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit travel and tourism hard in the Mediterranean country, the sector experienced signs of recovery since 2021. The number of international tourist arrivals in Turkey totaled nearly 44.6 million in 2022, approaching to the peak of 45 million arrivals recorded prior to the health crisis. Additionally, the average tourist expenditure per capita of international visitors in Turkey has increased gradually since 2018, peaking at over one thousand U.S. dollars in 2021. However, the average tourist expenditure in 2022 saw a reduction, amounting to 905 U.S. dollars.As long-distance international travel became increasingly difficult during the pandemic, many Turkish citizens turned to domestic trips. In 2022, the number of trips in Turkey made by domestic travelers was over 52 million. Even in this case, domestic tourism did not fully recover from the impact of COVID-19, despite a significant annual increase in the following years after 2020. Meanwhile, outbound tourism was more dramatically affected by the travel restrictions enacted during the health crisis, with the number of Turkish residents traveling abroad being 72 percent lower in 2021 compared to 2019. In 2022, seven million Turks visited destinations abroad, which showed some recovery from the low figures during pandemic. Prior to the global health crisis, Bulgaria was the most popular outbound country for Turkish residents. In 2022, however, the leading destination for Turkish citizens traveling abroad was Iraq.