Turkish Consulate General Cultural and Information office for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries has revealed that nearly 28,775 Bahraini travellers landed in Turkey’s many international airports, from the period starting January 1 to May 30, 2018.
Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national airlines, had announced a code share agreement with Turkish airlines last year and applies to daily flights operated by both carriers to Manama and Istanbul, a statement said. This agreement was put in place to meet the growing demand.
In 2016, almost 17,500 travellers from Bahrain travelled to Turkey, a number that grew to 22,031 travellers in 2017. Noting the growth in numbers, both countries have expressed their intentions to encourage two-way travel, trade, and tourism and investment opportunities.
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Turkey’s Attaché of Culture and Information Salah Ozer said: “Turkey continues to be an attractive destination for Bahraini business people, holidaymakers and those seeking medical services due to our strong cultural ties together.”
“The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) recently named Turkey as the world’s sixth most visited country in 2017, welcoming 39.9 million tourists. Such achievements and accolades will help in growing the number of tourists traveling to Turkey in 2018,” he added.
Other countries in the GCC also saw significant growth where Kuwait saw 90,590 travellers depart to Turkey in from the period starting January 1 to May 30, 2018 and 15,417 from the UAE over the same period.