Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, in his post on his social media account, drew attention to Turkey's competitiveness in tourism and the progress it has made in the field of sustainability.
“Turkish tourism is on the rise, our sustainable tourism program is an example to the world.” In his evaluation, Ersoy stated that Turkey has risen 11 places since 2019 in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) 2026 Travel and Tourism Development Index.
“WE RECORDED THE SECOND HIGHEST DEVELOPMENT IN THE WORLD”
Minister Ersoy emphasized that Turkey's sustainable tourism approach was considered as an exemplary practice in the report and said:
“While our Sustainable Tourism Program was included in the report as an exemplary country practice, we recorded the second highest improvement in the world with an increase of 8.3 percent in the field of socioeconomic impact of tourism.”
Emphasizing the aim of spreading the gains provided by tourism to the whole society, Ersoy said, "Together with all stakeholders of our sector, we will continue to increase Turkey's competitiveness in tourism and make our success permanent." made his assessment.
FROM 47TH TO 36TH
According to WEF's current and comparable data series, Türkiye rose to 36th place in 2026 in the index, where it ranked 47th in 2019 and 37th in 2024. Thus, Türkiye, which has progressed one step further in the recent period, has recorded a total increase of 11 steps since 2019.
Turkey's index score also increased by 6.1 percent, from 4.1206 in 2019 to 4.3734 in 2026. The score increase was 2.5 percent in the 2024-2026 period.
INTERNATIONAL EMPHASIS ON TURKEY'S TOURISM MODEL
In the report, Türkiye was examined as an exemplary country with its approach to managing rapid growth in tourism with sustainability standards. Efforts against the concentration of tourism activity in certain destinations and practices that increase the benefits of growth to the local people came to the fore.
It was stated that Turkey has made progress in all of the "Socioeconomic Impact of Travel and Tourism", "Sustainability of Travel and Tourism Demand" and "Environmental Sustainability" indicators since 2024. In addition to the 8.3 percent increase in the socioeconomic impact area, a 5.1 percent improvement was achieved in the tourism demand sustainability indicator.
SUSTAINABILITY MOVE WITH MORE THAN 2650 FACILITIES
The National Sustainable Tourism Program, which Turkey implemented in cooperation with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) in 2022, was shown as an important step in the report.
The report noted that more than 2,650 accommodation facilities have received GSTC certification, and that the certification system is expected to become mandatory for accommodation facilities across the country by 2030. The program; It was stated that it covers basic elements such as reducing environmental impacts, protecting cultural heritage and reflecting the social and economic benefits obtained from tourism more strongly to local communities.
Using the example of Türkiye, the importance of strengthening local economic, social and environmental gains while managing growth in tourism was pointed out. Providing local people more benefits from tourism and supporting the quality of life in destinations were cited as among the key elements of the long-term success of the sector.
