Rise in number of tourists influence guides

The number of tourist guides has increased from 12,529 to 13,628 in Turkey renowned for its rich nature and culture. The number of tourist guides who also serve as volunteer tourism envoys promoting the historical and natural beauties of Turkey to the world, show a substantial increase each year, according to the information provided by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. While the number of tourist guides with authorization were 10,779 in 2007, 11,600 in 2008, 12,191 in 2009, 12,529 in 2010, 13,021 in 2011, the number reached 13, 628 in 2012. Considering authorized tourist guides according to languages, English speaking tourist guides rank first with 7,290 tourist guides, followed by German, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Bulgarian, Dutch and Arabic. The highest number of tourist guides are present in Istanbul with 4,750 guides. Istanbul is followed by Izmir, Ankara, Antalya, Aydin and several other Turkish cities. There are rare guides speaking Albanian, Icelandic, Malay, Georgian and Scandinavian. There are no authorized guides speaking Slovene.