/ Signs of recovery for Turkey and also for the 8th Atrax entertainment trade show held in mid-February in Istanbul /

With foreign investors still in short supply, inflation in the double digits around 12%, and an unemployment rate of around 15%, Turkey is still far from being able to say that it has recovered from the serious economic crisis that began in mid-2018. In some cases, however, there are some signs of recovery. One very important comes from the tourism industry, a sector that has performed very well over the past year, confirming its key position in the national economy. In 2019, according to data recently released by the Turkish Statistics Institute and the Ministry of Tourism, tourism revenues in the country were $34.5 billion, a 17% increase compared to 2018, with average spending per capita of  $666 (in 2018 it was $647).

The country welcomed just under 52 million tourists last year, 12.22% more than in the previous year. Of these, over 45 million were foreigners (14.1% more than 2018), 74% from Europe and the Commonwealth, 16% from the Middle East and more than 15.5% from Russia (among countries, Russia is in fact the main source of tourists travelling to Turkey). Istanbul was the most visited city (around 15 million tourists, chosen by 33% of foreigners), followed by Antalya (14.65 million tourists)…

Continue reading – p. 56 Games & Parks Industry March 2020