ANKARA
The number of foreign visitors to Turkey increased nearly 14 percent increase in July compared to the same month a year ago, the country's culture and tourism minister said Monday.
Nearly 5.2 million tourists came to Turkey this July compared to 4.6 million in July 2013, an increase of 13.52 percent, the minister, Omer Celik, said in a written statement. Just over half the foreign visitors came from Europe, he said.
Among international visitors that chose Turkey as a holiday destination, Russian citizens ranked at the top of the list with 805,631 visitors. Germans followed with 733,862 visitors, and British tourists accounted for 423,226 visitors in the month.
Celik said that Turkey is peaceful and safe despite the turmoil in neighboring countries, and this helped the Turkish tourism sector achieve permanent and sustainable growth.
Celik praised the country's promotion of Turkey's unique beauty to the world.
"Turkey managed to become the first choice of foreign visitors thanks to a successful promotion," he said.
Turkey was the sixth most popular destination in the world last year according to figures from the U.N. and Turkey's Culture and Tourism office.
France attracted more tourists than any other country in the world while the United States came in second place, with China, Spain and Italy completing the top five most visited countries.
www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey
