Turkey Expects 40m Visitors in 2018

Turkey expects 40 million tourists with $32 billion of revenue from the industry in 2018, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. "We are proceeding quickly toward this target," Erdogan said while addressing a rally of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey's holiday resort province of southern Antalya, Anadolu News Agency reported. The president said the number of tourists coming to Antalya increased by 57%, reaching 10.5 million, in 2017. "Our target for this year is 14 million," he added. While Turkey hosted 36.8 million foreigners in 2014 and 36.3 million in 2015, the figure dropped sharply to 25.3 million in 2016 but rose again to 32.4 million last year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute. Turkey welcomed three million foreign visitors in the first two months of 2018 during its winter period, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry.