UPDATE - Turkey: Tourism revenues at $4B in Q3

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, REVISES DECK

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's tourism revenue totaled $4 billion in the third quarter of this year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced Friday.

From July to September, quarterly tourism revenue fell 71.2% from $14 billion in the same period last year, due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions and pandemic concerns.

"While 71.6% of this income (excluding GSM roaming and marina service expenditures) was obtained from foreign visitors, 28.4% was obtained from citizens resident abroad," TurkStat said.

According to official figures, individual expenditures constituted nearly $3.1 billion of the total tourism income, while some $946.7 million of the revenues came from package tour expenditures.

In the three-month period, Turkey welcomed over 5.6 million visitors -- 79% foreign and 21% Turkish citizens living abroad -- a 74.1% drop on a yearly basis.

TurkStat said visitors' average expenditures were $722 per capita, as foreigners spent $649 per capita and Turkish citizens spent $969 per capita.

The primary visiting purpose of foreigners was travel, entertainment, sports, and cultural activities with 74.9%.

The primary travel reason for Turkish visitors living abroad was visiting relatives and friends with 65.4%.

The institute also said that Turkey's tourism expenditure -- which is the expenditure of the Turkish citizens resident in Turkey and visiting abroad -- posted a 90% annual decline to $126 billion in the July-September period.

"In this quarter, the number of Turkish citizens visiting abroad decreased 93.1% compared to the same period last year," TurkStat said.

Some 203,223 Turkish citizens traveled abroad and spent $620 per capita on average.