ANTALYA’S tourism revenue may drop by $1.5 billion this year, as the number of tourists visiting the province, mainly from Russia, has decreased by more than 10 percent.

Davut Çetin, head of the Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO), said: “The number of tourists visiting Antalya decreased by 255,000 from the previous year as of May 21, representing an 11 percent decrease.

“Almost 80 percent of this decrease was due to the dramatic decline in the number of Russian visitors.

“We also see decreases in the number of tourists visiting Antalya from other countries, including the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, France, Denmark, Norway, Belgium and Israel.

“The number of British tourists visiting Spain increased by 10 percent in the first months of the year, although we saw around a 6 percent decrease in the number of British tourists… If the decreasing trend continues in tourism figures, we’ll lose around $1.5 billion in tourism revenue this year.”

He said he hoped to see some recovery in the coming months and a full recovery by next year, adding that incentives in the sector should be extended to improve the conditions. 

The number of tourists arriving in Antalya by air decreased by 11 percent to 1.2 million in the first four months of 2015 in comparison to the same period of the previous year, according to official data compiled by the Doğan News Agency. 

The number of foreigners visiting Turkey fell 8.1 percent year-on-year in April to a total 2.44 million people, according to data from the Tourism Ministry’s official website.

Despite a rise in foreign visitors by 2.37 percent in March, April witnessed an 8.1 percent decrease.

“The number of foreign visitors decreased to 2.44 million in April, an 8.1 percent decrease from the same period of 2014,” read a statement from the Tourism Ministry.