According to the provincial administration, around six million foreign tourists visited local resorts over the past 12 months, bringing tourist numbers back to the level recorded in 2004.
In 2016, due to the ban on charter flights from Russia and security concerns, Antalya lost 46% of its foreign tourist traffic. The largest decline came from the Russian and German markets. The number of tourists from Russia fell by 85%, from 3.5 million to 500,000, while arrivals from Germany dropped by 35%, from 3 million to 1.9 million. Antalya also lost 47% of travelers from Scandinavian countries, with 412,000 fewer visitors, as well as 331,000 from the United Kingdom, 303,000 from the Netherlands, 141,000 from Belgium, and 100,000 from Poland.
Commenting to the press on the volume of foreign tourist traffic, Antalya’s authorities described the figures as “a miracle and a great success,” considering the events of the summer season.
In 2015, despite losing 600,000 Russian tourists, Antalya still managed to attract 11.5 million travelers from abroad. According to the authorities’ forecasts, local resorts will welcome around 7.5 million foreign holidaymakers in 2017. The main growth is expected to come from the Russian and CIS markets.