Fewer Germans and more Arabs. Sermons in English in mosques
(ANSAmed) – ANKARA – The Turkish tourism industry continues to grow and the profile of the average tourist is changing: most visitors are still coming from Europe, mainly Germany, but the number of tourists from Arab countries and regions like South America is on the rise. This fact was underlined by the Turkish agency Anadolu, which has analysed figures on the flow of incoming tourists over the first 11 months of 2011. This flow increased by 10% compared with the same period in 2010, rising to 30.26 million. Today Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay told Anadolu that he expects Turkey to host 32.5 million tourists this year, generating 24 billion USD in revenues.
The impact of Turkey’s soap operas, which are very popular in North Africa and the Middle East, has raised the number of Arab visitors to the country. But an increase in visitors from the Philippines, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Norway was also recorded.
The most popular tourist destinations are the beaches of Antalya, the history and architecture of Istanbul and the province of Mugla, with the beautiful seaside resort of Bodrum.
Most tourists came from Germany (4.23 million from January to November, 400,000 less than the same period in 2010), followed by Russian tourists (3.4 million, a sharp increase from the 2.64 million recorded in 2009).
The figures regarding Arab tourists are lower, but are in line with the rise of the Islam in Turkey, which seems to be freeing itself from the secular heritage of Ataturk. Today the Dogan agency reports that some historic mosques in Istanbul are preparing summaries in English of their sermons. Rather than to devout Islamic tourists, the initiative – already implemented in Germany and Australia – is aimed at visitors of other religions among the 20 thousand tourists who visit the Islam’s places of worship in Istanbul on average every day. Some of them are not only interested in the history and architecture of the mosques, they also want to learn about the religious message that they convey. To that purpose, 250 specialised guides will be trained, who will be able to answer questions on this issue in at least three languages. Istanbul remains a very attractive tourist destination: according to figures released yesterday by the city’s Culture and Tourism Direction, a growth of more than a million visitors (+16%) was recorded compared with 2010, when the Turkish capital was one of the three European Cultural Capitals. Also in Istanbul most visitors came from Germany, followed by tourists from Russia, the U.S., Italy and France. The most popular month was July (916 thousand visitors), the least popular was January (378 thousand). (ANSAmed).