Turkey's Trabzon hosts over 1.2M tourists over past 8 months

Turkey's northern Trabzon province hosted more than 1.2 million domestic and foreign tourists over the past eight months. While a total of 996,192 domestic tourists came to explore the charming touristic hub in the Black Sea region, the number of foreign tourists visited the city, was 226,206, according to the data compiled by Anadolu Agency correspondent from the provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism. Compared to the same period of 2020, the number of foreign visitors to Trabzon increased by 313% and domestic visitors 221%. Last year in the same period, the number of domestic and international tourists who visited the city were 364,701. This year, while the domestic tourists stayed an average of two nights, foreign tourists stayed four nights in the city. In the first eight months of 2021, the income obtained from tourism amounted to $135.7 million. The highest monthly income from tourism was achieved in August with $67.5 million, followed by that in July with $53.2 million and in June with $11.5 million. A total of 896 international flights were made to Trabzon in the first eight months of this year. The highest number of international flights to Trabzon were made in August with 371 flights from 48 destinations. In August, a total of 74 flights from Germany, 57 from Kuwait, 52 from Jordan, 47 from the United Arab Emirates, 36 from Oman, were made to the city, besides flights from Bahrain, Russia, Georgia, Netherlands and Pakistan. Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Mustafa Asan, the deputy director of provincial directorate of culture and tourism said that last year, the tourism industry in Turkey went through a difficult time due to the pandemic. Asan added tourism makes up approximately 50% of Trabzon's income. Stating that 371 flights were made from abroad to Trabzon Airport in August, Asan stated that a total of 1.65 million passengers, 180,555 of whom were foreigners, used the airport in the 8-month period. Emphasizing that foreign and domestic tourists' favorite destinations in Trabzon were Uzungöl Natural Park and Sumela Monastery, Asan said that the guests show interest in the highlands as well as in the museums in the city center. A total of 1.94 million tourists also visited national and natural parks in Trabzon, according to the data. Uzungöl Natural Park, which hosted more than 1.39 million people in the past eight months, was the most visited place. This place was followed by Altındere Valley National Park with 184,045 visitors and Sürmene Çamburnu Natural Park with 171,588 tourists. On the other hand, museums and archeological sites in Trabzon hosted a total of 393,113 tourists. While Sümela Monastery hosted 132,200 visitors, Atatürk Mansion opened its doors to a total of 126,490 visitors in the past eight months. In the same period, Çal Cave hosted 123,025 visitors, Trabzon City Museum opened its doors to 6,298 and Küçük Ayvasıl Church hosted 1,909 tourists. Additionally, 1,900 tourists visited Trabzon History Museum, while 1,291 visited Silk Road Museum in Trabzon.