​Turkey’s goal for 2023 in the field of tourism is to become one of the top three in the world, said relevant minister Nuri Ersoy, Hurriyet cites.

“We set great goals for Turkey’s centenary. We aim to host 60 million tourists and reach $56 billion in tourism revenue in 2023. By 2028, our goals are 90 million visitors and $100 billion in revenue,” Ersoy said during a visit to the popular holiday destination of Antalya.

At the same time, he noted that the past five years have been very difficult for the tourism industry, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, forest fires, the Russian-Ukrainian war and the devastating February earthquakes.

Ersoy recalled that in 2022, Turkey ranked third in the world in terms of the number of tourists, rising three positions compared to 2019. Almost 45 million foreign tourists visited Turkey last year, an 80% increase from 2021, when the world stayed at home due to the pandemic.

Including Turks living abroad, tourist arrivals amounted to 51.4 million people. Revenues from tourism, one of the main sources of foreign exchange, increased by more than 53% in 2022 compared to the previous year to reach 46.3 billion dollars.

More than 9.3 million foreign tourists visited Turkey in the first four months of this year, up 27.5 percent from last year, while tourism revenue rose 32 percent to 8.69 billion, according to the latest tourism industry figures. USD in the first quarter. .