17.5 Million Foreign Tourists Visited Turkey In 2004

ANKARA (AA) - 17.5 million foreign tourists visited Turkey in 2004, Turkish Culture & Tourism Ministry announced on Wednesday.
     The Culture & Tourism Ministry said that Turkey, which hosted 17.5 million tourists in 2004, overtaking 17 million tourist target foreseen by World Tourism Organization for Turkey for the year 2010, had become the most brilliant and attractive destination in the world.
     The Ministry noted that the number of tourists visiting Turkey increased by 24.86 percent in 2004 when compared with 2003.
     61.19 percent of tourists who visited Turkey were from Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, while 27.61 of them were from East European countries.
     Germany was ranked the first among countries sending highest number of tourists to Turkey in 2004 with 22.4 percent. This country was followed by Russian Federation, Britain, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Iran, France, Greece, Austria, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Italy, Ukraine and the United States.
    
     -FIGURES IN DECEMBER-
    
     On the other hand, the number of foreign tourists visiting Turkey rose by 22.57 percent to 789,188 in December of 2004.
     46.96 percent of tourists visiting Turkey in December of 2004 were from OECD countries, while 34.88 percent were from East European countries.
     146,638 Germans, 114,225 Bulgarians, 65,200 Iranians visited Turkey in December, while these countries were followed by Greece, Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, France, the Netherlands, Georgia, Britain, Austria, Syria, Switzerland, the United States and Ukraine.
     (BRC-A֩
2005-01-05