Turkish domestic tourism spending up in Q2

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA

Turkish domestic tourism expenditure rose 7 percent on a yearly basis between April and June, the country's statistical office revealed on Wednesday.

Residents' spending reached 7.4 billion Turkish liras ($1.7 billion) in the second quarter of this year, up from 6.9 billion Turkish liras (nearly $1.92 billion) in the same period of 2017, TurkStat reported.

Domestic visitors made 111.1 million overnights from April to June.

"While average number of overnights was 5.9, average expenditure per trip was 392 liras ($90)," TurkStat said.

The average U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was around 4.4 in the second quarter of 2018, while one dollar traded for 3.58 liras on average in the same period of last year.

Some 15.5 million residents made domestic trips in the second quarter.

The number of domestic trips with one or more than one overnights rose by 6.1 percent on a yearly basis, totaling 18.8 million trips.

The institute said the primary purpose of domestic trips was visiting relatives, accounting for a 65.6-percent share during the same period.

"The secondary purpose of the trip was 'travel, leisure, holiday' with 25.8 percent and the third was 'health' with 4.2 percent."

By type of accommodation, domestic visitors stayed 79.4 million overnights at the house of a friend or relative.