News out of Turkey is good, in terms of tourism. The country has continued to see growth on many levels, but the latest reports say that Turkey is seeing a boost to the number of tourism visitors it sees each year. In 2007, record numbers were seen.
The number of visitors coming to Turkey during 2007 was up over 18 per cent between January of 2007 and November of 2007. These figures compare the 2007 to 2006. In 2006, tourism numbers were 18.8 million, while in 2007 these numbers rose to 22.3 million foreign tourists.
This information was released by the Turkish Hoteliers Federation, Turofed, during a press conference. Chairman of the Turofed board said, "These growth figures are much better than we expected, and a very positive development." Later, he said, "Without doubt tourism arrivals will grow further in 2008."
Turkey's tourism growth is spurred by several larger metropolitan areas which have seen increase in sophistication and demand by European officials. Locations include the capital, Ankara, Antalya, a fast growing beach community, the national park of Bursa, Istanbul, and Izmir.
The growth of tourism here is mainly from other European Union countries including British second home buyers and worldwide investors. Particularly of interest are tourism driven areas. This includes Bozcaada, a small island, Bodrum which is a trendy area, Datca a resort town, Marmaris a resort and Olympos a tourist attraction for younger people.
