Turkish domestic tourism spending increased by 14 percent year-on-year in 2018

Last year, Turkish domestic tourism spending increased by 14 percent year-on-year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).The trip expenditures of domestic tourists reached TL 40.3 billion last year, going up from TL 35.3 billion in 2017.The number of domestic trips with one or more than one overnight increased 1.7 percent on an annual basis to 78.5 million in 2018.Last year, domestic visitors made 633.7 million overnight stays.TurkStat said that average number of overnights was 8.1 and the average expenditure per trip was TL 513. Visiting relatives was the main purpose of trips at 64 percent, followed by travel, leisure and holidays at 26.8 percent and health at 4.6 percent. Overnight stays at the houses of friends and relatives were 443.6 million.