Turkey tourism hit by Russia row and security concerns

The golden segment of Turkey's economy is hit hard by the biggest drop in tourist arrivals in a decade.

Globally, Istanbul was the fifth most-visited city in 2015, data suggests, beating rivals such as New York, Tokyo and Amsterdam

The number of foreign visitor arrivals in Turkey has taken a dive, according to latest statistics from the Turkish tourism ministry. Tourist arrivals have dropped a substantial 10 percent in February 2016 compared with February 2015.

The decline, for the seventh month in a row, raises questions about the future of this key business sector as Turkey struggles to absorb the deadly terrorist attacks hitting its main cities as well as a showdown with Russia.


On Tuesday, Mehmet Simsek, the deputy prime minister responsible for economic issues, said that the drop in tourist numbers was short-lived in a speech in the capital Ankara.

"We will go through some difficulties this year, but they are temporary," he said. Tavit Koletavitoglu, the former chairman of Turkish Tourism Investors Association, expects the annual fall in tourist arrivals to be around 30 percent in 2016 over the past year.

"However, the fall in turnover will be more as companies have begun decreasing prices for their services and laying off employees to be able to make income amid the crisis that hit the [tourism] sector," he told Al Jazeera.

Turkey has seen multiple bombings in the capital Ankara and Istanbul in the past six months, which were claimed by Kurdish fighters and blamed on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) apparent spillovers from the war in Syria and Ankara's fighting against Kurdish fighters in Turkey and Iraq.

The Istanbul attacks in Sultanahmet - the old city of Istanbul - and the central Istiklal Street, two of the most popular tourist spots in the city, apparently targeted foreign tourists. The two attacks killed 17 foreigners, and injured dozens of others.