Tourism in Turkey
Encyclopedia
Tourism in Turkey is focused largely on a variety of historical sites, and on seaside resort
s along its Aegean
and Mediterranean Sea
coasts. In the recent years, Turkey has also become a popular destination for culture
, spa, and health care tourism. In 2010, Turkey
attracted more than 28.6 million foreign tourists.
Istanbul
is one of the most important tourism spots not only in Turkey
but also in the world. There are thousands of hotels and other tourist-oriented industries in the city, catering to both vacationers and visiting professionals. Turkey's largest city, Istanbul
, has a number of major attractions derived from its historical status as capital of the Byzantine
and Ottoman Empire
s. These include the Sultan Ahmed Mosque
(the "Blue Mosque"), the Hagia Sophia
, the Topkapı Palace
, the Basilica Cistern
, the Dolmabahçe Palace
, the Galata Tower
, the Grand Bazaar
, the Spice Bazaar
, and the Pera Palace Hotel. Istanbul has also recently became one of the biggest shopping centers of the European region by hosting malls and shopping centers, such as Metrocity
, Akmerkez
and Cevahir Mall
, which is the biggest mall in Europe and seventh largest shopping center in the world. Other attractions include sporting events, museums, and cultural events.
s, particularly for Turkish delights and visitors from Western Europe
, are also central to the Turkish tourism industry. Most beach resorts are located along the southwestern and southern coast, called the Turkish Riviera
, especially along the Mediterranean coast near Antalya
. Antalya is also accepted as the tourism capital of Turkey. Major resort towns include Bodrum
, Fethiye
, Marmaris
, Kuşadası
, Çeşme
, Didim
and Alanya
.
Lots of cultural attractions elsewhere in the country include the sites of Ephesus
, Troy
, Pergamon
, House of the Virgin Mary
, Pamukkale
, Hierapolis
, Trabzon
] (where one of the oldest monasteries is the Sümela Monastery
), Konya
(where the poet Rumi had spent most of his life), Didyma
, Church of Antioch
, religious places in Mardin
(such as Deyrülzafarân Monastery), and the ruined cities and landscapes of Cappadocia
.
Diyarbakır
is also an important historic city, although tourism is on a relatively small level due to waning armed conflicts.
Ankara
has an historic old town, and although it is not exactly a tourist city, is usually a stop for travelers who go to Cappadocia
. The city enjoys an excellent cultural life too, and has several museums. The Anıtkabir
is also in Ankara. It is the mausoleum of Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey.
Foreign tourists mainly come from the United Kingdom
, Germany
, Ukraine
, Romania
, Russia
and Japan
, but tourists from Arab countries, Iran
, North America
, France
and Scandinavia
are not uncommon. There seems to be a trend in which British tourists tend to go on holiday to Aegean
resorts such as Bodrum
or Marmaris
, whilst Russian and Arab tourists almost exclusively go to resorts on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey (e.g. Antalya
) While Japanese and German tourists mainly visit Istanbul
and historical sites such as Ephesus
.
People from Spain
have become frequent tourists in recent years. In 2007, 200,000 Spaniards visited Turkey. Most Spaniards book hotels in Istanbul
(it is becoming especially popular among them) and many of them also visit Cappadocia
.
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
s along its Aegean
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
and Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
coasts. In the recent years, Turkey has also become a popular destination for culture
Culture of Turkey
The culture of Turkey combines a largely diverse and heterogeneous set of elements that are derived from the Ottoman, European, Middle Eastern and Central Asian traditions...
, spa, and health care tourism. In 2010, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
attracted more than 28.6 million foreign tourists.
Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
is one of the most important tourism spots not only in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
but also in the world. There are thousands of hotels and other tourist-oriented industries in the city, catering to both vacationers and visiting professionals. Turkey's largest city, Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, has a number of major attractions derived from its historical status as capital of the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
s. These include the Sultan Ahmed Mosque
Sultan Ahmed Mosque
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is a historical mosque in Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey and the capital of the Ottoman Empire . The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior....
(the "Blue Mosque"), the Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
, the Topkapı Palace
Topkapi Palace
The Topkapı Palace is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years of their 624-year reign....
, the Basilica Cistern
Basilica Cistern
The Basilica Cistern , is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul , Turkey...
, the Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coastline of the Bosphorus strait, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1922, apart from a 22-year interval in which Yıldız Palace was used.- History :Dolmabahçe Palace...
, the Galata Tower
Galata Tower
The Galata Tower — called Christea Turris by the Genoese — is a medieval stone tower in the Galata district of Istanbul, Turkey, just to the north of the Golden Horn...
, the Grand Bazaar
Grand Bazaar, Istanbul
The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with more than 58 covered streets and over 4,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and half a million visitors daily.- History :...
, the Spice Bazaar
Spice Bazaar, Istanbul
The Spice Bazaar, in Istanbul, Turkey is one of the oldest bazaars in the city. Located in Fatih, in the neighborhood of Eminönü, it is the second largest covered shopping complex after the Grand Bazaar.-History:...
, and the Pera Palace Hotel. Istanbul has also recently became one of the biggest shopping centers of the European region by hosting malls and shopping centers, such as Metrocity
Metrocity
MetroCity AVM, opened on April 30 2003, is a modern shopping mall in the finance and business quarter of 1. Levent in Istanbul, Turkey, with a direct connection to 1...
, Akmerkez
Akmerkez
Akmerkez is a shopping mall located in the Etiler quarter of Istanbul, Turkey. It was commissioned on December 18, 1993 by a joint venture of the Akkök, Tekfen and İstikbal companies....
and Cevahir Mall
Cevahir Mall
Istanbul Cevahir Shopping and Entertainment Centre, opened on 15 October 2005, is a modern shopping and entertainment centre located in the Şişli district of Istanbul, Turkey. Called also Şişli Kültür ve Ticaret Merkezi...
, which is the biggest mall in Europe and seventh largest shopping center in the world. Other attractions include sporting events, museums, and cultural events.
Other destinations in Turkey
Beach vacations and Blue CruiseBlue Cruise
A Blue Cruise, also known as a Blue Voyage , is a term used for recreational voyages along the Turkish Riviera, on Turkey's southwestern coast...
s, particularly for Turkish delights and visitors from Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, are also central to the Turkish tourism industry. Most beach resorts are located along the southwestern and southern coast, called the Turkish Riviera
Turkish Riviera
The Turkish Riviera is a term used to define an area of southwest Turkey encompassing Antalya, Muğla and to a lesser extent the provinces of Aydın, southern İzmir and western Mersin...
, especially along the Mediterranean coast near Antalya
Antalya
Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. With a population 1,001,318 as of 2010. It is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and country's biggest international sea resort.- History :...
. Antalya is also accepted as the tourism capital of Turkey. Major resort towns include Bodrum
Bodrum
Bodrum is a port city in Muğla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region of Turkey. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of Gökova. The site was called Halicarnassus of Caria in ancient times and was famous for housing the...
, Fethiye
Fethiye
Fethiye is a city and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean region of Turkey with about 68,000 inhabitants .-History:...
, Marmaris
Marmaris
Marmaris is a port city and a tourist resort on the Mediterranean coast, located in southwest Turkey, in Muğla Province.Marmaris' main source of income is tourism. Little is left of the sleepy fishing village that Marmaris was just a few decades ago after a construction boom in the 1980s...
, Kuşadası
Kusadasi
Kuşadası is a resort town on Turkey's Aegean coast and the center of the seaside district of the same name in Aydın Province. Kuşadası lies at a distance of to the south from the region's largest metropolitan center of İzmir, and from the provincial seat of Aydın situated inland. Its primary...
, Çeşme
Çesme
Çeşme is a coastal town and the center-town of the district of the same name in Turkey's western-most end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula which also carries the same name and which extends inland to form a whole with the wider Karaburun Peninsula...
, Didim
Didim
Didim, home of the antique city of Didyma with its ruined Temple of Apollo, is a small town, popular seaside holiday resort and district of Aydın Province on the Aegean coast of western Turkey, from the city of Aydın.-Geography:...
and Alanya
Alanya
Alanya , formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort city and a component district of Antalya Province in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey, from the city of Antalya. On the southern coast of Turkey, the district has an area of 1,598.51 km2 and 248,286 inhabitants...
.
Lots of cultural attractions elsewhere in the country include the sites of Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
, Troy
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
, Pergamon
Pergamon
Pergamon , or Pergamum, was an ancient Greek city in modern-day Turkey, in Mysia, today located from the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus , that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC...
, House of the Virgin Mary
House of the Virgin Mary
The House of the Virgin Mary is a Christian and Muslim shrine located on Mt...
, Pamukkale
Pamukkale
Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water...
, Hierapolis
Hierapolis
Hierapolis was the ancient Greco-Roman city which sat on top of hot springs located in south western Turkey near Denizli....
, Trabzon
Trabzon
Trabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast...
] (where one of the oldest monasteries is the Sümela Monastery
Sumela Monastery
The Sümela Monastery , , i.e. monastery of the Panaghia at Melá mountain) is a Greek Orthodox monastery, standing at the foot of a steep cliff facing the Altındere valley, in the region of Maçka in Trabzon Province, modern Turkey...
), Konya
Konya
Konya is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. The metropolitan area in the entire Konya Province had a population of 1,036,027 as of 2010, making the city seventh most populous in Turkey.-Etymology:...
(where the poet Rumi had spent most of his life), Didyma
Didyma
Didyma was an ancient Ionian sanctuary, the modern Didim, Turkey, containing a temple and oracle of Apollo, the Didymaion. In Greek didyma means "twin", but the Greeks who sought a "twin" at Didyma ignored the Carian origin of the name...
, Church of Antioch
Church of Antioch
The Church of Antioch is one of the five major churches that composed the Christian Church before the East-West Schism.-History:...
, religious places in Mardin
Mardin
Mardin is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for its Arabic-like architecture, and for its strategic location on a rocky mountain overlooking the plains of northern Syria.-History:...
(such as Deyrülzafarân Monastery), and the ruined cities and landscapes of Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
.
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
is also an important historic city, although tourism is on a relatively small level due to waning armed conflicts.
Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
has an historic old town, and although it is not exactly a tourist city, is usually a stop for travelers who go to Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
. The city enjoys an excellent cultural life too, and has several museums. The Anıtkabir
Anitkabir
Anıtkabir is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of the Turkish War of Independence and the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey...
is also in Ankara. It is the mausoleum of Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey.
Characteristics of Turkey's tourists
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, but tourists from Arab countries, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
are not uncommon. There seems to be a trend in which British tourists tend to go on holiday to Aegean
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
resorts such as Bodrum
Bodrum
Bodrum is a port city in Muğla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region of Turkey. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of Gökova. The site was called Halicarnassus of Caria in ancient times and was famous for housing the...
or Marmaris
Marmaris
Marmaris is a port city and a tourist resort on the Mediterranean coast, located in southwest Turkey, in Muğla Province.Marmaris' main source of income is tourism. Little is left of the sleepy fishing village that Marmaris was just a few decades ago after a construction boom in the 1980s...
, whilst Russian and Arab tourists almost exclusively go to resorts on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey (e.g. Antalya
Antalya
Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. With a population 1,001,318 as of 2010. It is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and country's biggest international sea resort.- History :...
) While Japanese and German tourists mainly visit Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
and historical sites such as Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
.
People from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
have become frequent tourists in recent years. In 2007, 200,000 Spaniards visited Turkey. Most Spaniards book hotels in Istanbul
Hotels in Istanbul
-History:Contemporary hotel management in Istanbul started in the second half of the 19th century. A group of minorities and levantines of Istanbul in partnership with Wagons-Lits company, opened the Hotel Pera Palace in 1892...
(it is becoming especially popular among them) and many of them also visit Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
.
Tourism statistics
Foreign tourist arrivals increased substantially in Turkey between 2002 and 2005, from 12.8 million to 21.2 million, which made Turkey a top-10 destination in the world for foreign visitors. 2005 revenues were billion which also made Turkey one of the top-10 biggest revenue owners in the world.| Year | Arrivals |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 9,750,000 |
| 1999 | 7,460,000 |
| 2000 | 8,000,000 |
| 2001 | 10,400,000 |
| 2002 | 12,800,000 |
| 2003 | 13,300,000 |
| 2004 | 16,800,000 |
| 2005 | 21,200,000 |
| 2006 | 18,500,000 |
| 2007 | 23,340,911 |
| 2008 | 26,336,677 |
| 2009 | 27,077,114 |
| 2010 | 28,632,204 |