"Despite all the setbacks that Turkish tourism sector saw in 2008, we will pass the critical threshold to reach over 25 million foreign visitors by the end of this year," Gunay told a press conference in London where he participated at the World Tourism Fair.

Gunay said Istanbul, Turkey's main commercial hub, had hosted over 6 million tourists to date and over 8 million others had visited the southern resort city of Antalya.

The Turkish minister also said 1.9 million British tourists had come to Turkey so far and the number was expected to reach as high as 2.3 million later in the year.


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