Number of foreign people visiting Turkey slightly increases in July

ANKARA

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The number of foreign people visiting Turkey increased to around 5.5 million in July, a 5.1 percent increase from the same month of 2014, according to data released by the Tourism Ministry on Sept. 2.However, the number of foreign visitors decreased by 0.4 percent to 20.38 million in the first seven months of the year amid rising geopolitical risks and economic problems in Russia, according to sector representatives.The number of people visiting Turkey from Japan decreased by 31.5 percent, Italy by 21.6 percent, Russia by 21.6 percent, France by 17.8 percent and Norway by 12 percent in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period of 2014.Tourism representatives have noted some decreases may be the case in the country’s tourism income this year.Turkey’s tourism income may decrease by 12 percent this year from last year unless the required measures are taken, according to Detur CEO Firuz Bağlıkaya, who will run for the presidency of the country’s leading tourism association, the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB), in December.To overcome losses and to improve Turkey’s image abroad amid escalating violent occurrences, destination-based publicity campaigns should be launched rather than campaigns for the whole country, Bağlıkaya said in an interview with Reuters, adding tour operators that have recently faced reservation cancelations should be supported.