THE NUMBER OF TURKISH European’s who visit Turkey each year as tourists has decreased in the last year according to a study carried out by TAVAK (The Turkish European Foundation for Education and Scientific Studies.
Statistics show that the number of tourists have decreased from 2.7 million to 1.9 million in the space of just 12 months, that’s almost a million less compared to 2014. The average spending per European Turkish tourist has also decreased.
European Turks have shown that Turkey (their home country) is becoming a less popular holiday destination according to the TAVAK study, figures showing 900,000 less tourists of Turkish descent living in Europe compared to last year. The study surveyed across 1,450 Turks living in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Austria.
“Specifically European Turks who are younger than 35 years old prefer visiting other countries rather than Turkey. Older European Turks also needed to cut their vacation budgets so they travel less than they did before,” said the research.
Their average spending in Turkey has also decreased to below 1,000 euros for the first time over the last five years, according to the study.
Most European Turks also now stay an average of 24 days in Turkey, although they used to spend at least one month in the country.
TURKISH TOURISTS VISIT ISTANBUL MOST
The study also showed that most European Turks go to touristic destinations in Turkey, such as Bodrum, Antalya, Marmaris and Çeşme, rather than visit relatives. The most popular destination for them is Istanbul, according to the research.
5.4 MILLION TURKS LIVE IN EU
According to the TAVAK data, recorded in 2015, out of a population of 508,000,000 in the EU’s 28 countries, around 5.4 million Turks were found to live in the EU.
THE HIGHEST RATE WAS LAST YEAR
Research figures show that the highest number of Turkish European tourists visited Turkey last year in 2014.
Below are figures of the Turkish European tourists who have visited since 2012:
2012: 1.8 million people
2013: 2.3 million people
2014: 2.7 million people
2015: 1.9 million people
AMOUNT OF SPENDING LOWEST THIS YEAR
The amount of spending made this year by Turkish Europeans per person also dropped, below are the figures of financial spending per person.
Year- Money spent per person on average
2010: 1200 euros
2011: 1200 euros
2012: 1100 euros
2013: 1170 euros
2014: 1320 euros
2015: 980 euros