Number Of Tourists Visiting Turkey Reaches Almost 12m

ANKARA - The number of tourists visiting Turkey rose by 30 percent, and reached almost 12,000,000 in the first eight months of this year, Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry said on Thursday.
A statement of the Ministry said that Turkey continued to be a center of attraction for tourists.
The statement noted that number of foreigners visiting Turkey increased by 8.55 percent in August 2004 when compared with the same month of last year, adding that 2,469,476 tourists visited Turkey in August of 2004.
62.55 percent of tourists visiting Turkey in August came from OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, while 26.35 percent was from East European countries.
The Ministry stated that Germany was ranked the first among countries sending the highest number of tourists to Turkey, while Russia, Britain, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, France, Iran, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Greece, Israel, Ukraine, Sweden and Serbia-Montenegro followed Germany.
11,788,116 tourists visited Turkey in the first eight months of this year, the Ministry pointed out. 61.66 percent of tourists visiting Turkey in the first eight months of this year came from OECD countries, while 27.88 percent was from East European countries.
(BRC-ULG) 02.09.2004