Istanbul’s Hotel Market View in 2019
Recent years in Turkey had not been the best for the country’s tourism sector. However, fresh investments and recovering tourist trust re-flourish Turkey tourism. Turkey Citizenship by Investment Program is one of the contributing factors. Through this program, investors may invest in Turkey by buying property including hotels and other real estate.
2018 Has Been a Good Year for Tourism in Turkey
According to the recent reports released by the Hotel Association of Turkey (TUROB), there have been 167 new hotel projects in Turkey in 2018. The report is based on the Investment Incentive Certificates. Turkey tourism received 550 million USD of investment last year. It equals to 3.05 billion Turkish Lira based on the currency average of last year.
Turkey tourism performed an increase of 22% in 2018. This impressive percentage resulted in Turkey leading Europe for tourism growth. With this rate, Turkey became the first among 34 European countries.
European Travel Commission’s (ETC) report shows that in 2018 Turkey tourism has grown by 22%. This rate has taken the yearly visitor number above 40 million. To be exact, in 2018, 47 million tourists were in Turkey which is a record for the country.
Turkey Outperformed Europe
In 2018, Turkey was the top tourist destination in Europe. According to the European Travel Commission’s (ETC) “European Tourism in 2018: Trends & Prospects” report, Turkey’s tourism numbers hit an all-time high. Increasing by 22 per cent year-on-year, Turkish tourism outperformed its continental rivals. For the first time in the country’s history, the number of tourists visiting the country exceeded 40 million and totalled 47 million in 2018. European Tourism in 2018: Trends & Prospects report also adds that Turkish tourism had shown an inspiring recovery.
The ETC report emphasizes that Turkey had a failed coup attempt back in July 2016. Despite this unfortunate event, Turkey recovered quickly and broke its own records in the number of tourist arrivals in just 2 years.
Future of the Turkey’s Tourism Sector Looks Bright
Turkey’s record-breaking year in terms of tourist arrivals, 2018, has shown more than clear signs of recovery. Now that the Turkish Lira offers more advantageous deals to foreign tourists, Turkish tourism is getting more and more popular. With the first quarter of 2019 passed, Turkish authorities have lots of reasons to be optimistic about the future.
In the first quarter of 2019 traveling, fun, and cultural activities have been the main reason of 56 per cent of the tourists that came to Turkey. Friend and relative visits, business, shopping, and other reasons have been the subsequent popular options. In 2018, the most popular cities among tourists have been Istanbul by 34 per cent, and Antalya by 32 per cent. Whereas in the first quarter of 2019, Istanbul hosted 57 per cent of the total tourists arrived in Turkey while Antalya covered 9 per cent.
