ISTANBUL, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Britain's removal of Turkey from the COVID-19 travel red list would promote tourism in the upcoming winter season, local media on Monday quoted Turkish tourism sector representatives as saying.

The British government decided that starting from Sept. 22, arrivals from Turkey, which had been on the travel red list since May, would no longer need quarantine in hotels.

Sururi Corabatir, head of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TUROFED), said British tourists are an important target group to be influenced by Turkey's golf courses, according to the Hurriyet daily.

He told press that the Antalya province in the Mediterranean region filled with many golf courses would start to host British travelers after Turkey's removal from the red list on Wednesday.

The Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB) anticipated that the number of British citizens bound for Turkey in the next three months will be around 200,000.

The TURSAB said in a written statement that there would be a school break in October in Britain, when families with children would spend their vacation in Turkey.

British travel company Jet2 Holidays would start its flights to Dalaman in Turkey's southwestern province of Mugla and Antalya as of Sept. 23, the association added.

Tourism insiders are also hopeful about the summer season in 2022, expecting that Turkey would lure more British tourists.

Some 2.5 million British people vacationed in Turkey in 2019, who mainly preferred the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts, according to the TUROFED.

After receiving 45 million tourists in 2019 and generating a total of 34.5 billion dollars in revenue, Turkey suffered over 70 percent losses in 2020 due to the pandemic. Enditem

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