Important! This article is written by orangesmile.com editors and is protected by copyright law. The article can only be re-used with a direct link to www.orangesmile.com

2019 was A Record Year for Tourism in Izmir

Last year was good for many destinations around the world, and Turkey’s Izmir is no exception. The popular resort managed to attract 17% more visitors in 2019 vs. 2018 and reached its all-time record. The city on the coast of the Aegean Sea is an increasingly popular beach holiday destination. Besides that, Izmir can offer interesting landmarks, delicious cuisine, and active cultural life, so no wonder why an increased number of tourists from all over the world enjoy visiting it.

A report prepared by Aegean Touristic Enterprises and Accommodation Union (ETİK) states that Izmir welcomed 1,975,187 guests in 2019. Izmir hotels greet not only foreign but also domestic tourists. An interesting fact: the number of visitors from other countries increased by 20% to 1,224,634 people, and the number of domestic guests was also growing increasing by 13% to 750,553 visitors in total. As we can see, Izmir becomes increasingly popular with both guests from Turkey and other countries.

Tourists from what countries enjoy visiting Izmir the most? It turns out that Germany is the biggest source market for the Turkish city. Guests from the UK scored the second, leaving behind tourists from the Netherlands, Iran, and France. The list of biggest source markets for Izmir from 5th to 10th place is the following: Belgium, Poland, Greece, Russia, and Ukraine.

It is also interesting to see how tourists prefer to get to Izmir. There are two main ways to get to this resort – by air and by sea. While airplanes carry almost ten times more passengers, the sea method showed faster growth in 2019 – airplanes served 19% more passengers in 2019 and ships carried 20% more passengers to Izmir.

Hotels in Izmir and the city’s tourism industry in general had to face difficulties in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, there were definite signs of recovery, but 2019 set a new record with an increase in the number of guests by 17%. This year, Izmir is aiming at 2 million guests without cruise tourists. The new mayor of the city takes tourism seriously and plans to continue developing this industry, as well as attracting new guests with various promotions and campaigns. As currently there are no obvious reasons for shrinking tourism to this resort on the Aegean Sea, experts see no obstacles in reaching new records and an increased number of tourist arrivals.

17.01.2020

Previous article / Back to news index

Stay in touch with the latest news of a worldwide hotel industry. All up-to-date analytics, reports, and news about hotel business trends on OrangeSmile.com.