'25 million tourists' to visit Turkey in 2008

Turkey expects to play host to over 25 million tourists by the end of the year, the country's culture and tourism minister has stated.

Ertugrul Gunay made the claim at a press conference at this year's World Travel Market fair in London.

Mr Gunay noted that Istanbul - the country's main commercial city - had already seen over six million tourists visit so far this year, while the resort of Antalya in the south had eight million visitors.

British tourists were among those increasingly choosing the country as a holiday destination, with a 13 per cent increase in travellers bringing the total to 1.9 million to date and a predicted 2.3 million by the end of the year.

The news may be welcomed by those considering making property investment in the country, as an increase in tourism numbers may result in demand for rented holiday homes going up.

Turkey was recently described as one of Europe's "premier yachting destinations" by the editor of Buying in Turkey Dominic Whiting.