Mallorca may be in for a shock when the tourism results come in at the end of the year, or rather the end of the winter season because, despite the Balearic propaganda, Turkey is proving more popular and has its eye on nudging Mallorca down the league table.
Antalya, Turkey’s popular holiday destination, has attracted 13.1 million foreign tourists in the first 11 months of 2022, a robust 48 percent increase from the same period of last year. January-November numbers for Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast, were above that of 2019, when the Turkish tourism sector saw a record number of foreign tourist arrivals.
“The final quarter (of 2022) is going very well. We can call it the “golden fall,’” said Recep Yavuz from the Tourism Working Group at the Antalya City Council.
Hotels in all major holiday destinations in the Mediterranean basin, except for the Canary Islands and Mallorca, ended the tourism season, but hotels in Antalya remain open, he added.
“Throughout November, Antalya was in the top two in terms of daily tourist arrivals, competing with the Canary Islands and Mallorca, claiming the first spot in most of last month. We are expecting Antalya to take over Mallorca this year.”
Yavuz noted that Mallorca has received between 11 million to 12 million tourists, whereas Antalya welcomed more than 13 million foreign visitors.
When the final figures are revealed, Antalya will probably be on the top of the list hosting the largest number of foreign tourists, he said.
For travel, Google has revealed exclusively to Good Housekeeping that Turkey was the number one travel destination on UK users' minds this year as the Mediterranean country saw the most searches starting with 'holidays in'.
While Italy and Spain are usually named the most popular countries among Brits, it's not hard to see why Turkey topped Google's list. This year, it has consistently been named an affordable place for a holiday, with the weak lira giving UK travellers more for their money.
Turkey also emerged as one of the most glamorous places for a beach escape, with the likes of Bill Gates and Kate Moss soaking up the coastal sunshine in Bodrum in 2022.