ISTANBUL
Istanbul welcomed on Friday its ten millionth tourist, a Pakistani family, to visit Turkey’s most attractive and renowned city in 2013.
A welcoming ceremony took place at the city’s Ataturk International Airport. As the family went through passport control, officials from the Culture and Tourism Ministry welcomed the family.
Khurram Aleem, the father (38), expressed his happiness at being in Istanbul while his wife, Uzma, added that the family plans to also visit Cappadocia, Pamukkale and Antalya.
Officials gifted the family a Turkish coffee set, two-night reservations at a five-star hotel and a dinner at Istanbul’s most beautiful restaurant.
Turkish officials noted that this figure only includes tourists arriving by air and seaports, since those arriving by land routes are not considered as they may not be crossing borders in order to visit Istanbul.
It is the first time that the number of tourists coming to Istanbul reached ten million this year.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
