Tourism sector to target East Asian markets, solo travelers in 2020

Tourism operators across Turkey are preparing to attract more tourists from East Asia, China and India ahead of the 2020 tourist season, as well as to appeal to a new generation of solo travelers, thereby diversifying the market in an attempt to see higher revenues.

The tourism industry experienced a strong season in 2019, with the number of tourists reaching nearly 43 million over the period between January and November, as the country shows a sure sign of recovering from a steep downturn experienced in previous years. However, tourism companies remain concerned about not being able to increase their revenues in light of a hike in costs and new taxes soon set to come into effect.

In an effort to look at new ways of driving up revenues in 2020, the industry has decided to target the rapidly-growing Asian markets and looks to try to better accommodate solo travelers, in a shift away from package tours.

Over the period between January to November, a total of 211,405 Indian tourists visited Turkey, pointing to a 56.2% rise compared to the same month of the last year, according to the data released by the Culture and Tourism Ministry Monday.