ISTANBUL, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's Mediterranean province of Antalya has hosted more than six million foreign tourists so far this year, local media reported on Wednesday.
The number of tourists climbed by 202 percent between Jan. 1 and Sept. 13, compared to the same period of the previous year, the Hurriyet Daily said.
Antalya Governor's office also revealed the data for the first 13 days of September, saying that the province hosted 757,461 tourists, seeing a 70 percent year-on-year hike.
Popular with its sandy and sunny beaches, Antalya completed last year with approximately 3.5 million tourists due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Antalya is a major tourist destination in Turkey, mostly preferred by Russian visitors. But the province's high expectations for the summer season had been disturbed when Russia temporarily suspended regular and charter flights to Turkey in April due to the COVID-19 related concerns.
Russia resumed its flights to Turkey at the end of June and recently announced that it will increase the number of airports with flights to Turkey later this month. Enditem