Sagalassos

turkey tour highlights & places to visit in turkey

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• published: 31 Jan 2015
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Tourism in Turkey has experienced rapid growth in the last twenty years, and constitutes an important part of the economy. In 2013, 37.8 million foreign visitors arrived in Turkey, which ranked as the 6th most popular tourism destination in the world; they contributed $27.9 billion to Turkey's revenues.[202] In 2012, 15 percent of the tourists were from Germany, 11 percent from Russia, 8 percent from the United Kingdom, 5 percent from Bulgaria, 4 percent each from Georgia, the Netherlands and Iran, 3 percent from France, 2 percent each from the USA and Syria, and 40 percent from other countries.[203] Turkey has 13 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as the "Historic Areas of Istanbul", the "Rock Sites of Cappadocia", the "Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük", "Hattusa: the Hittite Capital", the "Archaeological Site of Troy", "Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape", "Hierapolis – Pamukkale", and "Mount Nemrut";[204] and 51 World Heritage Sites in tentative list, such as the archaeological sites or historic urban centers of Göbekli Tepe, Gordion, Ephesus, Aphrodisias, Perga, Lycia, Sagalassos, Aizanoi, Zeugma, Ani, Harran, Mardin, Konya and Alanya.[205] Turkey hosts two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which are the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the Temple of Artemis.[206] Cappadocia is a geological wonderland, is a region created by the erosion of soft volcanic stone by the wind and rain of centuries.[207] The area is a popular tourist destination, as it has many areas with unique geological, historic, and cultural features. Infrastructure Main articles: Transport in Turkey, Communications in Turkey, Energy in Turkey and Water supply and sanitation in Turkey Turkish Airlines, flag carrier of Turkey, was selected by Skytrax as Europe's best airline for five years in a row: in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.[208][209] In 2013 there were 98 airports in Turkey,[210] including 22 international airports.[211] As of 2014, Istanbul Atatürk Airport is the 13th busiest airport in the world, serving 31,833,324 passengers between January and July 2014, according to Airports Council International.[212] The new (third) international airport of Istanbul is planned to be the largest airport in the world, with a capacity to serve 150 million passengers per annum.[213][214][215] Turkish Airlines, flag carrier of Turkey since 1933, was selected by Skytrax as Europe's best airline for five consecutive years in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.[208][209][216] With 262 destinations worldwide, Turkish Airlines is the fourth largest carrier in the world by number of destinations as of 2014.[217] It is ranked first in the world by number of countries served. As of 2014, the country has a roadway network of 65,623 kilometres (40,776 mi).[218] The total length of the rail network was 10,991 km in 2008, including 2,133 km of electrified and 457 km of high-speed track.[219][220] The Turkish State Railways started building high-speed rail lines in 2003. The Ankara-Konya line became operational in 2011 while the Ankara-Istanbul line entered service in 2014.[220] In 2008, 7,555 kilometres (4,694 mi) of natural gas pipelines and 3,636 kilometres (2,259 mi) of petroleum pipelines spanned the country's territory.[219] The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the second longest oil pipeline in the world, was inaugurated on May 10, 2005.[221] The Blue Stream, a major trans-Black Sea gas pipeline, delivers natural gas from Russia to Turkey. New undersea pipeline, with an annual capacity around 63 billion cubic metres (bcm), will allow Turkey to resell Russian gas to Europe.[222] In 2013, the energy consumption was 240 billion kilowatt hours.[223] As Turkey imported 72 percent of its energy in 2013, the government decided to invest in nuclear power to reduce imports.[223] Three nuclear power stations are to be built by 2023.[223] Turkey has the fifth highest direct utilization and capacity of geothermal power in the world.[224] Turkey is a partner country of the EU INOGATE energy programme. Turkey's first nuclear power plants are planned to be built in Mersin's Akkuyu district on the Mediterranean coast; in Sinop's İnceburun district on the Black Sea coast; and in Kırklareli's İğneada district on the Black Sea coast.[226] Turkey has the fifth highest direct utilization and capacity of geothermal power in the world.[224] Turkey is a partner country of the EU INOGATE energy programme, which has four key topics: enhancing energy security, convergence of member state energy markets on the basis of EU internal energy market principles, supporting sustainable energy development, and attracting investment for energy projects of common and regional interest.[225] Turkey's internet, which has 35 million[227] active users, holds a 'Partly Free' ranking in Freedom House's index travel turkey tourism