Avian flu, Prophet Mohamed drawings, the flap in Middle East as well as the Mundial that took place in Germany were the main factors that lead to a decrease in tourists’ arrivals in Turkey during 2006.

According to the Turkish Statistics Institute (TUIK) the number of tourists that visited Turkey in 2006 was 19.8 millions a decrease of 6.2% compared to 2005. The number of the visitors from the member – states of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was also down as from the 11.8 millions in 2005 only 10.2 visited Turkey in 2006.

It is worth mentioning that 2005 was a record year for Turkey as its international arrivals reached the 21 millions. In 2004 17.5 millions had visited the country and 14.3 millions in 2003.

Only in December 2006 the number saw an increase at 7.6% compared to same period in 2005.