Dramas and movies shot in Turkey’s picturesque locations are attracting huge numbers of tourists that are looking to live the atmosphere of the places portrayed on TV and cinema screen across the Middle East.

And in efforts to use the country’s natural beauty and historical backdrop, Turkey is looking to maximise on this trend and increase the number of tourists that visits every year.

Tourism numbers increased from 10 million in 2000 to just under 40 million in 2016, in part, driven by Turkey’s burgeoning TV and film production industry.

“Brad Pitt’s Trojan Horse sculpture that featured in the Hellenistic blockbuster ‘Troy’ was responsible for increasing by 73 per cent the number of people visiting the northwestern province of Çanakkale,” said Salih Ozer, attaché of Culture and Information, Turkey to the UAE.

“And the number of guests arriving from countries where Turkish TV dramas like Aşk-ı Memnu (Forbidden Love) and Muhteşem Yüzyıl (The Magnificent Century) has increased by 15 per cent since the shows went on air.”

For example, the eastern Black Sea region has seen a sharp increase in the number of Arab tourists from 35,000 in 2013 to over 200,000 most recently.

Turkish dramas run thousands of hours to 102 countries. Thanks to its cultural richness, history and nature, Turkey has also become a platform for high-budget Hollywood productions.

“Russell Crowe’s ‘The Water Diviner’ was shot in Turkey. Eighteen of the top grossing films over the past decade, including ‘Skyfall,’ ‘Argo’ and ‘Taken 2’ were all shot in Turkey,” he added.

Ramadan reflects the zenith of TV viewership and it is when the biggest and best Turkish TV dramas are beamed across living rooms in the Middle East region. And many people from the Arab region will travel to Turkey of Eid celebrations.

“We see a very direct correlation in tourist visits between the Turkish locations filmed in Ramadan dramas, and the destinations tourists choose to visit. This shows the cultural trends are positively affecting tourism in Turkey,” he concluded. - TradeArabia News Service