Turkey is likely to attract a greater number of holidaymakers from Israel and Iran this year, according to new figures.

TurkishPress.com has cited Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport reports which revealed that in the first half of 2008, a total of 2,222 Israeli people arrived in Turkey. This is a significant increase because during the same period of 2007, a total of 64 Israeli people arrived in the region. The transport hub observed a similar trend among Iranian leisure travelers, as visitor numbers have up from 194 last year to 1,722 in 2008. These signify an increase of 3,372 per cent and 788 per cent respectively.

Commenting on this development, the airport said it is a result of the effort of government in promoting Turkey in both Israel and Iran. Turkey is currently benefiting from significant investment by the government in popular tourist destinations in order to make them as more desirable locations. This has created new opportunities for overseas buyers who hope to collect rental returns from buy-to-let housing aimed at tourists. In addition, Turkey’s appeal as tourist hotspot also pushes house prices upwards.

This comes during a period in which Turkey is attracting a growing number of visitors from Ukraine. According to the Kyiv Post, 590,000 people from Ukraine visited Turkey during 2007.

Labels: Tourism