20 April 2017•Update: 21 April 2017
By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON
Tourist numbers from Britain to Turkey could increase by 30 percent next summer, one of the biggest package tours operators in the U.K. has said.
The announcement coincided with Turkey’s Tourism Week, which is being held between 18 - 22 April.
Jet2holidays said the number of British tourists visiting Turkey was not yet back to 2016 levels but predicted it would sharply rise in 2018.
In comments carried by Travel Weekly magazine, Jet2holiday’s chief executive, Steve Heapy, said the country was “great value and was in much demand”.
A controversial ban on electronic hardware in airline cabins enforced by some countries had failed to make a negative impact, Heapy said, adding his firm had seen no cancellations.
In March, the U.S. and U.K. introduced bans on electronic devices as carry-ons in flights coming from certain countries, including Turkey.
Elsewhere on Thursday, Turkish Airline’s chairman Ilker Ayci told reporters in Istanbul his firm was working to provide laptops to business class passengers who delivered their computers to the company before flying.
For economy passengers free Internet and Wi-Fi would be provided, Ayci added.
It is thought 2018 travel packages from the U.K. will include flights from airports such as East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle and Manchester.
Turkish destinations will include Antalya, Bodrum and Dalaman -- all coastal areas popular with foreign visitors.
More than 2.5 million British tourists visited Turkey in 2014 and 2015, but these numbers fell to 1.7 million in 2016.
