Turkey's revenues from the tourism sector decreased by 7.2 percent to 16.85 billion U.S. dollars in 2006 over the previous year, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Tuesday.

Revenues from foreign visitors dropped by 9.9 percent to about 12.55 billion dollars, while revenues from domestic tourists rose by 1.7 percent and reached 4.3 billion dollars, Anatolia said, quoting the data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute.

A bird flu outbreak in last January and a string of bombings carried out by Kurdish rebels last summer were blamed by the authorities for scaring off foreign tourists.

World Travel and Tourism Council Vice President Geoffrey Lipman said that there was an increase in terror incidents and natural disasters globally in 2006.

"For this reason there was a decrease in the rate of growth of tourist numbers and tourism revenues generally," Lipman said, predicting that 2007 will be a "bright season" for tourism sector in Turkey.

"Along with the fact that Turkey possesses natural and historic assets, the fact that it hosts several religions and cultures will make it one of the most attractive tourism centers of the world," Lipman said.

Turkey's tourism revenue, which stood at 18.1 billion dollars in 2005, plays an important role in covering the country's current account deficit.

Source: Xinhua