Turkey: Antalya tourism booming in off-season

ANTALYA – Turkey’s tourism sector boomed in the autumn season, confounding projections that the sector would close 2003 at a loss due to an economic recession in Europe and the Iraq war. Representatives of the hotel industry in Antalya said that occupancy had reached 100 percent even though reservations for the Ramadan holiday had not yet started to come in.

The average occupancy rate in Antalya, called the tourism capital of Turkey, was 90 percent in the first half of November and is expected to reach 100 percent by the end of Ramadan. Tourist agencies are reportedly satisfied with the tourist arrivals despite the end of the high season.

Antalya, which hosted 5 million tourists last year, is likely to reach its target for 2003, with almost 5 million tourists will visiting the area by the end of the year.