Kaan Kaşif Kavaloğlu, President of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association (AKTOB), said that Antalya had surpassed 9 million tourists as of the beginning of August, almost the same number as last year. Kavaloğlu said, “If the problems in our own region don't go away, I think I'll consider it a success to equal last year's figures and repeat last year's 17 million.”

Due to negative impacts such as global inflation and wars in both northern and southern Türkiye, Antalya's tourism sector is aiming to reach the record-breaking 2024 figures as a new target. The target, set at 18 million tourists at the beginning of the year, has been updated to 17 million.

Kaan Kaşif Kavaloğlu, President of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association (AKTOB), stated that Antalya had surpassed 9 million tourists as of the beginning of August, almost the same number as last year. Kavaloğlu said, “If the problems in our own region don't go away, I think I'll consider it a success to equal last year's figures and repeat last year's 17 million.” "We set a target of 18 million at the beginning of the year, but it looks like the figure will remain at 17 million this year due to unrest in our region, such as the continuation of the Russia-Ukraine war, the Iran-Israel tension, and the ongoing tensions in Palestine," he said.

GREAT SUCCESS DESPITE CRISES

AKTOB President Kavaloğlu noted that the sector struggled somewhat at the beginning of July this year, saying, "There were some gaps at the beginning of July, but now we've entered the peak of the high season. From the second week of July until the end of August, when schools open, we're experiencing significant traffic in Antalya, especially with the domestic market, Turks living in Europe, Russians, Germans, and British. Despite the crises in this region, Antalya is experiencing this level of density." Therefore, I think Antalya's ability to close the year at 17 million will be a great achievement," he said.

2026 WILL ALSO BE A DIFFICULT YEAR

Kavaloğlu noted that negotiations have begun with tour operators for 2026 and that 2026 will also be a challenging year. He said, "We knew 2025 would be a transition year. The sector is resilient, but it's important that these numbers are still coming in despite all the problems. In fact, the fact that these numbers are widespread, along with the numbers, to nearly 100 countries, is also the same. There are flights from almost everywhere within a four-hour flight from Europe. Therefore, if the Russia-Ukraine war ends, Antalya could reach its first goal again."

RUSSIANS ARE NUMBER 1 AGAIN

Kavaloğlu noted that it is very valuable for Antalya that Russians are once again the top tourist destination. He said, "Even the possibility of an end to the war brightened our eyes. Tourism is the language of peace. In this sense, Russia's continued presence as the number one source market despite the war is very valuable to us." "The figures in Germany are almost the same as last year. The figures in our top four markets are almost the same as last year. Therefore, the reason for the 0.7 percent decline is clear. Russia is almost the same, Germany is the same, the UK and Poland are the same," he said.

GROWTH TARGETS IN MAIN MARKETS

Kavaloğlu stated that they will continue their journey with less price increases compared to previous years, without losing their competitive edge regarding the 2026 agreements. He continued: "There are a total of five source markets in the world: the US, China, the UK, Germany, and France. Therefore, since we don't have the opportunity to increase these figures significantly from the US and China in Antalya, we are concentrating on the remaining three markets.

The UK will grow even more, and Antalya will become a very popular destination, especially for family holidays. It will become much more popular than Spain. The number of people coming to Antalya from the UK has exceeded 1.5 million. Germany is still not growing as we would like. Germany is also a very large source market." Therefore, when the number of people coming from Germany reaches 4 million, the number from the UK reaches 2 million, and Russia reaches these figures, which were 6 million in 2019, we won't have any problems. However, the ongoing war and Germany's inability to achieve the necessary growth in Antalya or Türkiye appear to be obstacles facing us. There's no increase in Poland this year either, with almost the same figures. However, our Benelux market, particularly the Netherlands and Belgium, is performing very well. Ukraine, especially Ukrainians living in Europe, has started to come to Antalya again. There's an increase in the number of Ukrainian citizens. But there's a decrease from Iran. Israel is almost completely absent. There's a surprising decrease from Kazakhstan.