UAE nationals continue to travel to Turkish cities in rising numbers. As per latest figures released by the Turkish Cultural and Tourism Office in Dubai, 13,296 Emiratis have visited multiple destinations across Turkey within the first four months of the year. 4,466 UAE nationals travelled to Turkey during the month of April, representing a 34.27% increase when compared to April last year.

On the heels of this growth, several non-stop flights from have been launched from Sharjah International Airport to Turkish cities, with Air Arabia flying into Antalya and Trabzon, and Turkish Airlines flying between the emirate and Istanbul. Meanwhile, a total of 110 flights now depart from the UAE’s airports for several destinations across Turkey each week.

Salih Ozer, attaché of culture and information of Turkey to the UAE commented: “Turkey is becoming one of the most popular tourist destinations for Emiratis as well as other Gulf nationals. Visitors from neighbouring nations have always played a significant role in driving economic growth within Turkey by boosting its tourism sector.”

Over 8,735,200 tourists from around the world flew into Turkey in April, representing a 24% increase in comparison to April last year. The largest influx of tourists into Turkey in the first four months of 2019 has been from Germany at just over 803,480 visitors, followed by Bulgaria and Russia.

Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya also recently broke its record for the number of tourists arriving by air on a single day — 85,205 visitors flew into the city on 8 June, 2019. Inbound tourist traffic per month also rose by 17% in June with 570,422 visitors to the city.