ANKARA, Jan 13 (A.A) - A total of 11 million 569 thousand 950 tourists visited Turkey last year.
A statement of Tourism Ministry said on Sunday that the number of tourists visiting Turkey increased by 11 percent to 11 million 569 thousand 950 last year when compared with the previous year.
The statement noted that 10 million 428 thousand 153 people had visited Turkey in 2000.
The Germans ranked the first among tourists visiting Turkey. A total of 2 million 875 thousand 446 Germans came to Turkey last year. The number of German people visiting Turkey increased by 26.25 percent in 2001 when compared with 2000.
Britain followed Germany with 844 thousand 649 tourists and Russian Federation with 752 thousand 921 tourists. The Netherlands, Bulgaria, France, the United States, Austria, Iran, Italy and Belgium were the other countries from where tourists came to Turkey.
The number of tourists coming from Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) increased by 16.43 percent and that coming from East Europe climbed by 4.42 percent. A total of 7 milion 779 thousand 330 people came from OECD countries and 2 million 530 thousand 121 people from East European countries.
In December 2001, 396 thousand 839 people visited Turkey. 46.5 percent of these people came from OECD countries, and 38.7 percent from East European countries.
Germany, Bulgaria and Russian Federation were the countries from where tourists came to Turkey in December 2001.