JUST 1.7 million Britons visited Turkey in 2016 as the country suffered a 30 percent drop in tourism overall.

Inbound tourism in Turkey in the past year fell by 30% to 25.3 million, according to the tourism ministry. The country welcomed 31 million foreigners in 2015. The main reasons for the decrease are the persisting security problems in the country.

An average 2.5 million British tourists visited Turkey in recent years, but this tailed off by 800,000 as families shied away from the terror attacks plaguing the country for the likes of Spain.

While the decline of arrivals from Europe reached 35%, Germany has become the main source market for Turkey with 3,890 million visitors. Georgia ranked second with 2,206 million tourists, followed by the United Kingdom (1,711 million), according to the ministry.

The Istanbul metropolis, one of the most popular destinations in the country, has maintained itself as the hub with 9.217 million visitors, which is however far from the record of 2015 when the capital welcomed 11.842 million tourists.

Revenues of inbound tourism in Turkey declined to $22.107 billion in 2016 from $31.464 billion the year before, down 29.7%.

More than 850,000 Russians visited Turkey in 2016, which is almost 80% less than the year before.

According to the estimates of the ministry, Turkey expects 3-3.5 million Russians coming for holiday on Turkish beaches this year.