Türkiye's tourism revenues up 5.4% to $8.8B in Q1

By Gokhan Ergocun

RIYADH (AA) - Türkiye's tourism revenues increased by 5.4% to $8.8 billion in the January-March period of this year, on a yearly basis, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced on Tuesday.

The number of visitors rose by 10.1% to 9 million in the three-month period, with 21% of them Turkish citizens living abroad, the institute said.

Average expenditure per person was $975 during the first quarter, down 4.3% on a yearly basis, while average expenditure per night was up by 10.6% to $93.

In the first quarter, people visited Türkiye mostly for travel, entertainment, sports, and cultural activities with 46%, while visiting relatives and friends followed with 31.3%, and shopping with 9.6%.

Turkish citizens living abroad traveled to the country mostly to visit relatives and friends, with 73.6%.