Nearly a million tourists took a hot air balloon flight in Turkey last year, a historic record

Ankara, April 15 - Nearly a million tourists took a hot air balloon ride in Turkey last year, a record number in the country's history, the Hürriyet daily reported today, citing data from the Civil Aviation Authority. According to them, 933,195 tourists took a hot air balloon ride in Turkey last year, which was 25 percent more than in 2023.

Hot air balloon rides are offered by 71 companies in seven Turkish regions. One of the areas where this attraction is operated is the historical region of Cappadocia, famous for its unusually shaped rock formations and underground cities, which are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Turkish Civil Aviation Authority also carried out around a thousand inspections of balloon operators last year, including random tests for alcohol and psychotropic substances. Balloon accidents in Turkey are not common, but several people have died in previous years. For example, in October 2022, a balloon in Cappadocia had to make an emergency landing due to an unexpected change in wind strength and crashed into the ground. There were 28 tourists and two balloon crew members on board, two Spanish tourists died in the accident. In May 2013, three Brazilian tourists died and 22 others were injured after two balloons collided.

Turkey received a record number of foreign tourists last year - 52.6 million, which was seven percent more than in 2023. About 13 percent of foreign visitors were Russians (6.7 million), about the same (6.6 million) were tourists from Germany and in third place were British (4.4 million). The most popular destination was Istanbul, which received 18.6 million foreign visitors. The seaside resort of Antalya came in second with 15.9 million foreign visitors.

Czech press agency | WT.24