Turkey remains a popular tourist destination for GCC visitors, especially from Bahrain, with some 28,775 Bahraini travellers visiting the country between January and May - up 30.6 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.

In 2016, some 17,500 travellers from Bahrain travelled to Turkey, a number that grew to 22,031 travellers in 2017. These growing numbers of visitors further reinforce the strong historic ties between Bahrain and Turkey and both countries have expressed their intentions to encourage two-way travel, trade, tourism and investment opportunities.

Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier, had announced a codeshare agreement with Turkish airlines last year. Gulf Air officials had stated that the agreement was put in place to directly respond to growing passenger demand.

“Turkey continues to be an attractive destination for Bahraini 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 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.”

Other countries in the GCC also saw significant growth in outbound travel to Turkey. Kuwait registered 90,590 travellers, Qatar recorded 28,775 travellers and a total of 15,417 passengers from the UAE visited Turkey during the first five months of the year. - TradeArabia News Service