The Turkish Statistical Institution has unveiled its latest report, showing Turkish tourism revenue rebounded by 18.9 per cent year-on-year in 2017.
Having previously reaching its peak in 2014, with a record-breaking US$34 billion, revenue dropped drastically in the following two years after a series of terrorist attacks and a failed coup rocked the tourism industry in Turkey.
Following intense security campaigns as well as branded media advertising, tourism started to recover in 2017 and revenue for the total year was US$26.3 billion.
Some US$ 21.5 billion of it is credited to independent travel, while package tours made up the result by contributing US$4.8 billion.
Foreign visitors spent the most amount of money on food, drink, and transport, closely followed by overnight accommodation of which they prefer hotels and motels despite the increase in popularity of self-catering facilities.
While in Turkey, they also spent roughly US$3 billion on attire and US$1 billion on souvenirs, not including US$100 million on Turkish carpets and rugs.