ANKARA, Türkiye / AsiaWire.IO / – Türkiye has set its sights on becoming the sixth-highest-earning tourism country in the world, according to its 2027 central government budget draft. Anadolu Agency reported that the draft allocates $244.5 million to tourism, compared with $188.4 million this year. The higher budget is linked to a revenue target of $70 billion in 2027. Funding for the sector would rise by nearly 30% under the plan.
The allocation is in line with Ankara’s Medium-Term Programme, known as the MTP. The programme sets tourism revenue goals of $70 billion in 2027, $73.5 billion in 2028 and $78.5 billion in 2029. That path implies gains of $3.5 billion and then $5 billion in the following two years. By 2029, annual tourism earnings would stand roughly 20% above the record level reached last year.
Tourism revenue hit a record $65.2 billion last year. Ankara originally targeted $68 billion for 2026 but later cut that goal to $65 billion. Officials attributed the revision to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and to conflicts in the Middle East. The new target for 2027 sits $5 billion above the revised 2026 figure and about $4.8 billion above last year’s record.
Revenue ranking projected to rise to sixth place
Global tourism revenue data from the World Tourism Organisation underpin the ranking projections. Türkiye is expected to finish seventh this year and move up to sixth in 2027 as revenues increase. Should the country reach its $70 billion target and advance in the rankings, later projections put it in fifth place by 2028. Each step would place Türkiye among a smaller group of the world’s top tourism earners.
Türkiye has advanced quickly in global tourism tables since 2017. It moved from 15th to seventh place in tourism revenue over that period. In total tourist arrivals, the country rose from eighth to fourth place. Projections show Türkiye keeping its fourth-place position in arrivals from 2027 through 2029. Those rankings place the country among the world’s most visited destinations.
WEF index goals extend to 33rd place by 2029
The government also wants to improve Türkiye’s position in the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Development Index, or TTDI. The country is projected to have ranked 36th in the index last year. Ankara aims to move up to 35th place in 2027, then 34th in 2028 and 33rd in 2029. The index tracks factors and policies that enable the development of national travel and tourism sectors.
Together, the revenue, arrivals and index targets are designed to strengthen Türkiye’s position as a leading global travel destination. The larger 2027 budget gives the sector additional resources to pursue those goals. It follows a year in which regional conflicts weighed on tourism expectations. Final data for 2026 will show how close the sector comes to its revised $65 billion target.