Saudi tourists to Turkey up 30%

The number of Saudi tourists who visited Turkey shot up 30 percent in 2014 compared to the previous year, officials from Turkish Airlines said on Monday.
Speaking at a press conference in Riyadh, Turkish Airlines Manager for Riyadh Erol Senol said 320,000 Saudis visited Turkey last year.
“We hope to maintain the same growth rate this year.” Senol said Saudi tourists have not explored several tourist destinations in the country, which include Ordu, Samsun and Izmir.
He said Saudi Arabia has a strong economy and young population, which it should use to grow Riyadh and Jeddah as tourism hubs. By 2033 there would be 91 mega cities around the world hosting millions of passengers, including Jeddah and Riyadh, he said.
“The Kingdom’s airports connect 90 unique international destinations and 68 million passengers travelled together with 1 million (pieces of) cargo in 2013. Saudi Arabia also has a strong domestic market with 30 million passengers carried locally in 2013.”
He said Turkish Airlines began operations in Saudi Arabia in 1977. Operations in Riyadh started 24 years ago, and in 2011 a branch was launched under the Turkish Airlines name in the Kingdom.
“Now it is adjudged the best airline in Europe,” he said.
Mustafa Goksu, senior advisor from the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey said Saudi businessmen are showing increasing interest in the country. Currently, there is SR13 billion worth of Saudi investments in the country, which includes SR3.75 billion in the real estate sector.
“Our country offers attractive investment opportunities for Saudi businessmen.” He said there is an incentive scheme in place for investors from the Kingdom. The country would also be more stable after elections in June, he said.