Tourist numbers to Turkey in 2011 were some of the highest ever recorded, with more than 31 million foreigners visiting the country, exceeding the country’s optimistic estimate of 30 million and representing a nine per cent year-on-year increase.

The most popular areas visited were Antalya (10 million), Istanbul (8 million), Mugla (3 million) and Edirne (2.7 million), with figures expected to rise further during 2012.

The country that provided the most number of tourists was Germany, which sent five million. This was followed by tourists from Russia (3.4 million) and Britons came in third. These numbers compared with 2010 show increases of 15 per cent, 11 per cent and 8 per cent respectively.

These surges in popularity are not just down to the tourism industry as the country also offers great investment opportunities and hosts many international events which bring in spectators from all over the globe.

For details of property for sale in Turkey, visit the Turkey listings on Rightmove Overseas. One way to save money when buying in Turkey is to use a currency specialist when transferring your pounds into lira to complete the purchase of your property. For more information on this, contact Smart Currency Exchange.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Turkey, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Turkey Property Buying Guide’