The number of Scandinavian tourists visiting the Turkish resort town of Antalya has significantly gone up in the first four months of 2019, Antalya Governor Münir Karaloğlu said Monday. In the first quarter, tourist arrivals from Sweden rose by 42 percent, while arrivals from Norway, Denmark and Finland rose by 87 percent, 18 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
Having arrived in Antalya for a meeting with the city's honorary consuls, Denmark's Ambassador to Ankara Svend Olling, Norway's Ambassador to Ankara Vegard Ellefsen, Sweden's Ambassador to Ankara Annika Molin Hellgren and Finland's Charge d'affaires Pekka Voutilainen, recently visited Governor Karaloğlu's office.
Speaking during the visit, Karaloğlu expressed his happiness in welcoming the envoys.
Pointing out Antalya and Alanya as important tourist destinations for Nordic countries, Karaloğlu said that approximately 1 million Nordic tourists would visit Antalya before the 2016 crisis. After the crisis, this figure dropped down to only 300,000. However, the number has grown significantly in the first four months of this year. "We hope that the figures will quickly reach pre-2016 levels," Karaloğlu said.
He said Antalya comes to the fore not only because of its coastal tourism but also with its perfect nature. He added that they have started a policy to highlight the city's waterfalls and canyons.
In April, Antalya welcomed some 687,543 foreign visitors, according to the data of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers Association (AKTOB).
