ISLAMABAD: Turkey has generate a record $24.5 billion from tourism in 2021, double than its tourism income in 2020 despite the ongoing pandemic and global economic slowdown.
Unexpected 100 percent increase in tourism revenues and cut in the trade imbalance has enabled Turkey to post a surplus current account in 2021.
This positive development is an outcome of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s vision which has created a current account surplus as a centre-piece of his government’s sweeping new economic policy, based on low markup rates and stronger exports.
For Turkey, increase in tourism income was crucial as the Turkish central bank seeks to boost reserves and execute market interventions to defend the lira, which lost 44% of its value to the dollar in 2021 amid a December currency crisis.
According to Turkish Statistical Institute, in 2021, tourism revenue climbed 103% to $24.5 billion. In the fourth quarter of 2021, revenues surged 95% to $7.6 billion.
It was TUIK’s first publication following Erdogan’s dismissal of its Chairman Sait Erdal Dincer at the weekend, less than a year after his appointment.
The move comes after opposition parties and some economists raised questions over the credibility of the agency’s inflation data – concerns that TUIK has dismissed – and ahead of key January CPI data due on Feb. 3.
The new TUIK head, Erhan Cetinkaya, was deputy chairman of the BDDK banking watchdog since 2019. Separately, Tourism Ministry data on Monday showed foreign arrivals jumped 94% to 24.7 million last year.
