According to the fourth quarter tourism statistics, released by TurkStat on Friday, Turkey’s tourism revenues fell by 2 percent in the previous year over 2009 and neared $20.81 billion. Turkey’s revenue from the tourism sector was $21.25 billion in 2009. Furthermore, the amount of money its citizens spent while abroad, $4.14 billion in 2009, rose to $4.83 billion in 2010. Turkey received slightly more than 33 million tourists in 2010, with an average spending of $630 per person. In 2009, the number of tourists visiting Turkey was almost the same in 2010 but the average amount tourists spent was $664 per person. Turks visiting foreign countries increased in 2010 to 6.55 million from 5.56 million in 2009.

The tourism sector’s revenues in the fourth quarter (October, November and December) of 2010 rose by 4.9 percent to approach $5.26 billion compared to the same period of 2009. The TurkStat data suggest that $1.54 billion of total tourism revenue came from Turks living abroad, while the remaining amount came from (foreign) tourist expenses. The average amount of time foreign tourists stayed was 9.8 nights, while that of Turks living in foreign countries -- predominantly Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France -- was 37 nights per year. The average amount of money these Turks spent while in Turkey was far more than foreign tourists -- $1,514 per year. In comparison, the average amount of money Turks spent in foreign countries in 2010 was $794, the TurkStat report said.

Turks’ total expenditures in the October-December period of 2010 exceed $1.36 billion -- a rise of almost 12 percent over 2009. A full $1.31 billion of the total amount of money spent was private consumption -- expenses for items not included in packaged tours -- while the remaining part was expenses incurred during tours.