Turkey welcomed some  90,590 Kuwaiti travellers during the first five months of the year, up 17.25 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to the latest data released by the Turkish Consulate General Cultural and Information office for the GCC countries.

Kuwait leads the region in terms of the number of travellers going to Turkey for business, medical and leisure tourism, accounting for 54 per cent of the total tourist outflow from the GCC.

In 2016, some 61,189 holidaymakers from Kuwait travelled to Turkey, a number that grew to 77,259 travellers in 2017.

“Turkey continues to be an attractive destination for Kuwaiti business people, holidaymakers and those seeking medical services due to our strong cultural ties together,” said Salah Ozer, Turkey’s Attaché of Culture and Information.

The data was released as Kuwait Airways announced its intention to increase the number of flights, and destinations, to Turkey this summer.

“The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) recently named Turkey as the world’s sixth most visited country in 2017, welcoming 39.9 million tourists. Such achievements and accolades will help in growing the number of tourists travelling to Turkey in 2018,” he said.

Other countries in the GCC also witnessed significant growth in outbound travellers to Turkey between January and May - Bahrain recorded 28,775 travellers depart to the holiday destination, while 28,775 jetted off from Qatar and 15,417 from the UAE over the same period. - TradeArabia News Service