(SABAH)
Figures for the first eight months of the year show that the number of foreign visitors to Antalya has dropped by 2.9 percent.
According to data compiled by the Mediterranean Touristic Hotels and Investors Union (AKTOB) Research and Development Department, in the first eight month period of the year, Antalya has seen a 2.9 percent drop in visitors. Last year's total of 7,569,000 tourists, dropped to 7,346,000 this year.
The number of Russian tourists, which make up the main market in Antalya, dropped by 1.5 percent this year with a total of 2,109,000 tourists visiting the popular Southwestern province. In the first eight months of 2011, Antalya hosted a total 2,140,000 Russian tourists.
The number of German tourists, another big market for Antalya, went up this year by four percent, bringing last year's figure of 1,750,000 up to 1,819,000 visitors.
A regression was also seen in the number of visitors to Antalya from Holland, Sweden, Ukraine, France, Austria, Poland and Denmark. Last year's rising market England closed out the first eight months of 2012 with a drop. The number of British tourists in Antalya this summer decreased by 12.5 percent, with a total of just 292,000 visitors holidaying in the popular province.
The number of visitors from Iran dropped by a whopping 45 percent, regressing to just 60,000. Iran, France, Poland, England, Ukraine and Romania followed as being the nations with the highest percentage drop in tourists visiting Antalya. The nations whose tourist numbers increased the most were; Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Norway, Germany and Belgium.
Number of Visitors to Antalya for the January to August, 2012 Period
Country / 2011/ 2012/ Percentage of Variation
RUSSIAN FEDERATION – 2,140,277 / 2,109,399 (1.4%)
GERMANY - 1,750,051 / 1,819,238 (4.0%)
HOLLAND - 383,233 / 382,211 (0.3%)
ENGLAND - 334,725 / 292,859 (12.5%)
SWEDEN - 255,730 / 244,395 (4.4%)
UKRAINE - 272,547 / 243.527 (10.6%)
NORWAY - 206,598 / 222,502 (7.7%)
KAZAKHSTAN - 158,751 / 190,399 (19.9%)
FRANCE - 249,782 / 186,516 (25.3%)
BELGIUM - 173,070 / 176,635 (2.1%)
AUSTRIA - 203,309 / 176,167 (13.4%)
POLAND - 201,297 / 159,815 (20.6%)
DENMARK - 155,611 / 149,377 (4.0%)
CZECH REPUBLIC - 113,831 / 113,971 (0.1%)
SWITZERLAND - 90,597 / 98,703 (8.9%)
SLOVAKIA - 81,407 / 78,539 (3.5%)
FINLAND - 75,872 / 75,809 (0.1%)
ROMANIA - 72,959 / 66,093 (9.4%)
IRAN - 114,872 / 62,491 (45.6%)
BELARUS - 58,462 / 59,630 (2.0%)
OTHER COUNTRIES - 476,146 / 437,997 (2.8%)
TOTAL = 7,569,127 / 7,346,273 (2.9%).
