Turkey welcomed about 2.3 lakh tourists from India in 2022

As the world recovered from the pandemic, Turkey rose through the ranks to become the sixth most popular destination for tourists worldwide. (Image: AP)

Turkey received 2.32 Indian tourists in 2022, among the 51.4 million international visitors, the country’s tourism board said in a statement last week.

Visitors from India maintained the record from 2019 when 2.3 lakh had travelled to Turkey. The country also made it easy for anyone to access their visa if they had a valid US or UK visa.

Turkey had lifted all Covid restrictions for India travellers last June and at 27,000, the month also marked a record number of footfalls from India.

Factors like the ease of procuring visas for personal and leisure travel along with the resumption of direct flights by Turkish Airlines and Indigo could be some of the factors for this spurt in demand from India, Turkey Tourism had stated.

The country's tourism revenue in 2022 reached $46.3 billion, with an increase of 19 percent compared to 2019.

According to Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Turkey’s minister of culture and tourism, these results certify that the country had a great comeback after the pandemic. "We are confident to bring 90 million tourists and achieve $100 billion in tourism revenues by the end of 2028," Ersoy was quoted as saying by The Mint.

As the world recovered from the pandemic, Turkey rose through the ranks to become the sixth most popular destination for tourists worldwide. The government had stated that it aims to surpass previous records in 2023 by hosting a significantly higher number of Indian tourists this year.

The statements were made days before a powerful earthquake hit the country and neighbouring Syria killing more than 2,300 people and injuring thousands more.

Read more: Chilling videos show buildings collapse in powerful Turkey-Syria earthquake