Minister Ersoy: Turkey Has Risen to 4th Place in Global Tourism Rankings
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy met with digital media managers and representatives during the opening of the Manisa Museum, part of the Manisa Culture Route Festival. During the meeting, he shared insights on a variety of topics—from Turkey’s tourism revenue goals to enhancing cultural diversity and promoting night-time museum visits.
The Minister was accompanied by Chief Advisor Tayfun Topal and Turkey Culture Route Festival Director Selim Terzi.
Providing the latest updates on Turkey’s tourism performance, Minister Ersoy stated that, according to data from the World Tourism Organization, Turkey had ranked 8th globally in tourism in 2017, and had now risen to 4th place in 2024.
We have two major weapons to become a tourism country
“We have two major weapons to become a tourism country,” Ersoy said. “The first is Turkish Airlines (THY), which today offers direct flights to 360 destinations. No other country even comes close to reaching 300.
Our second weapon is Istanbul Airport, one of the largest in the world. Without establishing this kind of infrastructure, you can’t become a major global tourism hub. We also doubled the capacity of Antalya Airport this year, thanks to timely decisions.”
He also highlighted Turkey’s promotional efforts, noting that the Go Türkiye website now operates in 10 languages and promotes over 60 tourism products.
