Spending on domestic tourism in Türkiye surged by 82.5% in 2024 compared to the previous year, official data showed on Tuesday, as domestic travel remained resilient despite high inflation.
Expenditures rose to TL 419.3 billion ($10.96 billion), according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), compared to TL 229.8 billion in 2023.
Throughout the year, Turks made 66.8 million domestic trips, a rise of 8.7% from a year earlier. They lifted their overnight stays by 2.3% to 484.1 million, the data showed. The average length of stay was recorded as 6.7 nights, down from 7.7 in the previous year.
Strong spending came despite stubbornly high inflation, which started to ease as of the second half of last year as authorities tightened monetary policy to curb growth in prices.
Annual inflation started 2024 at 64.86% and peaked at around 75% in May before ending the year at 44.38%, according to official data. It slowed to 38.1% last month, marking the lowest level since December 2022.
Since mid-2023, the central bank has implemented a series of interest rate hikes after Türkiye walked away from years of easing policy to combat inflation.
Higher interest rates make it more expensive to borrow money and buy goods. It can weigh on spending, business investment and hiring.
The central bank started easing in December, when the rate was 50%. But that cycle turned out to be short-lived as the bank delivered a surprise 350 basis-point rate hike to 46% last week amid market turmoil and uncertainty around the global economic outlook.
Looking at the year as a whole, 88.1% of total spending, or TL 369.3 billion, was attributed to personal spending and 11.9% (TL 50 billion) came from package tours, the data showed. The average annual spend per trip was TL 6,274.
Food and beverage spending comprised 31.8% of all domestic travel costs, transportation 24.3% and accommodation 16.7%. These categories also saw sharp year-over-year increases: 81% for food and beverages, 68.7% for transportation and 78.8% for accommodation.
In the fourth quarter alone, 9.5 million residents traveled within the country.
The number of trips taken with at least one overnight stay totaled 11.5 million, a slight 0.4% decrease compared to the same quarter a year earlier. Travelers spent a total of 76.6 million nights away from home, with an average of 6.7 nights per trip.
They spent TL 66 billion, up 44.4% from a year earlier. Of that, TL 61.4 billion, or 93%, was for personal expenses, while package tours accounted for TL 4.6 billion, or 7%. The average spend per trip in the October-December period was TL 5,759.
Food and beverage expenditures made up the largest share of spending at 33.8%, followed by transportation at 27.7% and accommodation at 12.1%. Compared to the previous year, food and beverage spending rose 61.4%, transportation rose 33.6%, and accommodation jumped 50.3%.
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