Istanbul and Antalya among top 20 tourism destinations

Istanbul and Antalya are listed among the top 20 destination cities in 2018, according to Euromonitor International’s Top 10 City Destination’s report.

Istanbul listed 12th and Antalya ranked 16th on the list. Hong Kong, the top destination, was followed by Bangkok, London, Singapore, Macau, Paris, Dubai, New York, Kuala Lumpur and Shenzen.

Strong growth was registered by Turkish cities as the country rebounded from a turbulent 2016, the report said. The dialing down of political tensions between Turkey and Russia helped Antalya more than most, it added.

Also as a result of increasing political tensions and security threats in 2016, there was a significant decline in inbound arrivals, especially from Western European countries. However, Istanbul and other Turkish cities such as Antalya are seeing strong growth in 2018 as relative quiet returns. Istanbul arrivals increased by 16.4 percent in 2017 and are expected to grow by 13.0 percent in 2018. Antalya witnessed the highest growth rate in Europe with 59.3 percent in 2019

The report also cited the new airport as a hub to attract more tourists. Seeking to exploit the expanding demand for air travel, Istanbul opened its new airport, with six runways, at the end of October 2018, it said.

Once fully operational it could cater to 200 million passengers annually. In comparison, the report cited the world’s current busiest airport, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which serviced around 100 million passengers in 2017.

Euromonitor International’s arrivals research covers over 600 cities. This report highlights the top 100 cities based on 2017 international arrivals

Global inbound arrivals are expected to grow by 5 percent to 1.4 billion trips in 2018. At the same time, arrivals to this year’s top 100 city destinations are set to grow by 7.5 percent.

There are 33 megacities — with more than 10 million inhabitants — and a further six will be added by 2030.