Turkey hosts record number of British tourists

By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Turkey has hosted a record number of British tourists last week, Yeni Shafak newspaper reported on September 29.

The number of British people who consider Turkey as their favorite holiday destination has increased 10 times since September 22 after Britain removed Turkey from its red list and lose the international travel rules, the report added.

The coronavirus pandemic, along with other sectors, primarily affected tourism professionals.

Due to the measures taken by many countries against the pandemic, Turkey as one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations saw a significant decrease in the number of tourists at the beginning of the season.

Britain was one of the countries that took anti-pandemic measures, by placing Turkey on the red list on May 17, 2021. The country abandoned this decision four months later and removed Turkey from the red list as of September 22.

The lifting of the restriction pleased both the tourism professionals and British tourists who consider Turkey a favorite holiday destination.

The CEO of the UK-based tourism operator Jet2.com, Steve Heapy, underlined that there has been a more than 1,000 percent increase in reservations made to Turkey.

"We are happy to relaunch flights and holidays to Antalya and Dalaman and to take our customers to these popular destinations once again," Heapy said. He noted that Jet2.com plans 70 weekly flights to Antalya and Dalaman Airports.

“The British missed visiting Turkey this summer. This is why the country's reopening has resulted in great demand. We continue to look to the future with true confidence as our customers enjoy the much-needed sunshine,” Heapy added.