Having entered the Turkish market 10 years ago and opened an office in Istanbul in 2010, Expedia keeps growing in the Turkish market, according to the press release.

 Expedia officials said 2010 was a successful year for Turkish tourism and the world’s interest in Turkey was growing.

Expedia Vice President of Market Management Hari Nair said: “We saw a healthy increase from 2009 to 2010 from people booking travel to Turkey online via our websites. Incoming tourism into Turkey through Expedia sites grew 615 percent in the last five years. Despite the set back in the second quarter because of the volcanic ash incident in Iceland, the overall number of visitors in Turkey showed an increase from 2009 in 2010 and Turkey gained further competitive advantage versus other neighboring countries."

He said in new emerging destinations for Expedia like Anatolia, Expedia saw an increase of over 50 percent from 2009 of customers booking a package. "Whereas in primary markets, such as Antalya, the package production increase in 2010 was over 40 percent from 2009," he said. "The majority of Expedia’s customers coming to Turkey are from the U.S. at 29 percent. Others include the U.K., France, Italy and Germany,” he said.

“2011 also looks likely to be optimistic with Expedia having reservations in the books already until November. April shows a significant pickup compared to last year and May/June are looking particularly strong as well,” he said.

With interest in Turkey growing, Expedia is expanding its local network and team in Turkey via turkiye.hotels.com. The site was established in 2008 and continues to bring the world to Turkish hotels, the press release said.