By Muhammed Ali Gurtas,

Ankara: Turkey’s tourism revenue reached $26.3 billion in 2017, the country’s statistical authority announced on Wednesday.

Annual revenue rose by 18.9 percent in 2017, up from $22.1 billion the previous year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

“While 77.4 percent of this income (excluding GSM roaming and marina service expenditures) came from foreign visitors, 22.6 percent was obtained from citizens residing abroad,” TurkStat said.

Turkey welcomed 38.6 million visitors in 2017, marking a 23.1 percent hike from the previous year — 83.1 percent foreign and 16.9 percent representing Turkish citizens residing abroad.

TurkStat data revealed that average expenditure per capita was $681 in 2017. Foreigners’ average expenditure per capita amounted to $630 while for Turkish citizens residing abroad, it reached $903 per capita.

—AA