Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said Türkiye had maintained its position in a year when wars in neighboring regions, closed airspace and rising energy costs shook tourism. Ersoy made the remarks on Nov. 6 while responding to lawmakers' questions and criticisms during discussions on his ministry's 2027 budget at the Grand National Assembly's Planning and Budget Committee. "Despite all these adverse conditions, Türkiye has managed to become an island of stability in the middle of a ring of fire," he said.
In remarks reported by ANKA, Ersoy stressed that they had seen the "very significant benefit" of the peaceful policy pursued by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as efforts to secure peace. According to Anadolu Agency (AA), the minister also said diplomatic initiatives had positively affected Türkiye's tourism image and that tourist arrivals had begun to rise again through promotional campaigns and digital communications efforts.
War, cancellations and rising aviation fuel costs
Ersoy recalled that Türkiye ended 2025 with $65.2 billion in tourism revenue and 64 million visitors, and that it had continued to post positive figures in the first quarter of 2026. He said that, following the war that began on Feb. 28 between Israel and the United States and Iran, they received "cancellations ranging from 20% to 30%" in areas with heavy early-booking activity. He added that intensive promotion had made up for a significant portion of these losses.
The minister noted that strikes on the infrastructure of energy-exporting countries during wars had directly affected airline costs: "We are a country that receives passengers by air from an average distance of 2.5 to 3 hours." Ersoy said the rise in oil prices had been multiplied in aviation fuel costs, adding: "Fuel that cost $700 reached $2,100. It is currently fluctuating around $1,600." He also said aviation restrictions on Russia, one of the main source markets, as well as delays and closures caused by drone attacks at Russian airports, had reduced air traffic.
Ersoy said perceptions had been quickly improved by bringing opinion leaders to Türkiye and running campaigns in digital media. He said that, by the third quarter, tourist arrivals had nearly returned to their previous level and had exceeded earlier levels during some periods. According to the minister, the loss in resort areas, mainly in Antalya, currently stands at 5.65%, while campaigns in Istanbul and other provinces have also begun to produce positive results.
Foreign tourists' nightly spending reaches $119.9
Arguing that tourism revenue should be measured by per-person nightly spending rather than total per-person spending, Ersoy announced that foreign tourists' nightly expenditure had risen from $82.9 at the end of 2017 to $119.9 in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 44.6%. When citizens living abroad were also included, the figure rose from $75.8 to $107.7.
In his budget presentation earlier the same day, Ersoy had announced that 49 million 132 thousand visitors were hosted between January and September and that tourism revenue had reached $51.278 billion, up 2.4%. According to data published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) on Oct. 30, tourism revenue also rose 5% in the July-September period, reaching a third-quarter record of $25.526 billion.
COP31 site and Lütfi Kırdar to be transferred to ministry
Ersoy said they aimed to increase events during the low season to extend the tourism season and announced that they had established a MICE department within the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) focused on congress and event tourism: "Antalya will also host COP31. After the event ends, the COP31 site will be transferred gradually to the management of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The MICE department we established within TGA will take over the site." The UN Climate Change Conference COP31 will be held in Antalya from Nov. 9 to 20.
Ersoy announced that the ministry had won the eviction lawsuit concerning Istanbul's Lütfi Kırdar Convention Center and that the center would be taken over in December. "Once we complete the investments we will make in the center, we will be able to submit state-level bids for international congresses in both Istanbul and Antalya," he said.
Recalling that an agreement had been reached for races to be held in Türkiye for five years, Ersoy had stated in his presentation that the race would return to Istanbul Park in 2027. The minister said they would not limit the event to the circuit, adding: "We will enliven the event with promotional campaigns and packages that extend the process, such as 'Start your holiday in Antalya or Bodrum and finish the race in Istanbul' or 'Start the race in Istanbul and finish your holiday in Antalya.'"
Ersoy also noted that global competition had intensified, saying: "Citizens of every country in the world are our potential guests, but now every country in the world is also our potential rival." The minister said the Çeşme and Didim phases of the Aegean Tourism Centers project were being developed to extend the season, adding that the Çeşme project was planned to be carried out by investors without using funds from the state budget.
Following the discussions, the committee approved the ministry's 2027 budget of 95 billion 153 million liras, together with the budgets of its affiliated and related institutions; approximately 27.8 billion liras was allocated for investments. In a post on his social media account, Ersoy said: "We will continue our work with determination to protect our cultural heritage, bring culture and the arts to wider audiences in all 81 provinces, and further strengthen Türkiye's position in tourism."
Photos: AA
