Baku. TurkicWorld:

Turkey’s travel and tourism’s GDP is forecasted to grow at an average rate of 5.5 percent annually between over the next decade, more than twice the 2.5 percent growth rate of country’s overall economy, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) latest Economic Impact Report (EIR), TurkicWorld reports citing Hurriyet Daily News.

The forecast from the WTTC shows that by 2032, the sector’s contribution to the nation’s GDP could reach nearly 1.04 trillion Turkish Liras ($117 billion), representing 11 percent of the total economy.

The sector is also expected to create more than 716,000 new jobs over the next decade, according to the WTTC’s estimates.

By the end of this year, the sector’s contribution to GDP is expected to grow 15.5 percent to nearly 607 billion liras, amounting to 8.3 percent of the nation’s economy, while employment in the sector is set to grow by 4 percent to reach more than 2.5 million jobs.

Latest flight booking data from WTTC’s knowledge partner ForwardKeys shows that over the key summer period this year, Turkey is set to be the fourth most popular European hot spots amongst sun-seeking travelers, who will be heading to city destinations such as Istanbul, and the beaches of Antalya, Bodrum, and Dalaman.

The data shows that flight bookings are already overtaking pre-pandemic levels with bookings from the U.K. up 101 percent, according to the report.

“Other source markets are also outperforming 2019, with bookings from the U.S., Canada, and Ireland up 57 percent, 28 percent and 18 percent respectively.”

Before the pandemic, Turkey’s economy was highly reliant on international tourism, so its recovery is critical to both the economy and jobs, commented Julia Simpson, WTTC President and CEO.

Turkey’s travel and tourism sector’s contribution to GDP was 11 percent (693.3 billion liras or $78.2 billion) in 2019, falling to just 5.1 percent (327.2 billion liras in 2020, which represented a 52.8 percent loss, the report noted.

The sector also supported nearly 2.6 million jobs across the country, before suffering an 18 percent drop, falling to 2.1 million.

WTTC’s latest EIR report also reveals that 2021 saw the beginning of the recovery for the Turkish travel and tourism sector.

Last year, its contribution to GDP climbed 60.6 percent year on year, to reach 525.5 billion liras.

“The sector also saw a recovery of almost 300,000 travel and Tourism jobs, representing a 14 percent rise to reach more than 2.4 million.”