Visa removals boosts number of tourists in Turkey

Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism told a statement that 809,974 foreigners visited Turkey in January.

The ministry said tourists were mostly coming from neighboring countries, and enumerated the nationalities of tourists visiting Turkey the most as German, Iranian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Syrian, Russian, Greek, Azerbaijani, British and French.

"Removal of visa procedures between several countries and Turkey has had a positive impact on tourism," the ministry also said.

Over 27 million tourists visited Turkey in 2009. Turkey expects to host more than 28 million tourists in 2010.

Following Turkey's recent diplomatic initiatives and its 'zero problem with neighbors' policy, number of countries lifting visa requirements on Turkey has risen to 55 with Syria, Libya, Lebanon and Jordan.

Below is the list of countries and special administrative regions that do not impose visa requirements on Turkish nationals:

Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Albania, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Morocco, Fiji, the Philippines, Guatemala, Republic of South Africa, Georgia, Haiti, Croatia, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iran, Jamaica, Japan, Montenegro, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Colombia, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Kosovo, Costo Rica, Libya, Lebanon, Macau Special Administrative region, Macedonia, Maldives, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Republic of Palau, Paraguay, St. Vincent-Grenadines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Syria, Swaziland, Chile, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Uruguay, Jordan, and Venezuela.

/World Bulletin/