Key figures -* Area: 5,196 sq. km -* Population: 13 million -* 23% of Turkey’s gross national product -* 25% of tourists visiting Turkey stay in Istanbul -* GDP: 15th worldwide (France: 5th) -* 10% growth in 2011 in Turkey -* 10th most visited country worldwide 2010Figures confirm that the year 2011 saw growth in the number of tourists close to 9% of that in 2010 when Turkey ranked 7th most visited country worldwide. Impressive growth across a broad decade: 10 million visitors in 1998, 30 million in 2011... the tourism sector is thus a key sector in the Turkish economy and one of the primary sources of foreign currency, making it comparable to exportations in the textiles and automobile sectors. Despite the global economic crisis, Turkey successfully maintains a high occupancy rate thanks to a quality supply at very competitive rates with respect to Europe. In 2011, the tourism sector brought the country more than 19 billion euros. These figures are up despite the country’s very delicate geographic and political situation… Earthquakes (17 August 1999, in Izmit, 20,000 deaths – scientists estimate the risk of a seism of 7 or more on the Richter scale in the region at 77% for the next 30 years) and the terrorist attacks (16 July 2005 in Kusadasi, 5 deaths and 18 injured) have hit the country one after the other in recent years. Located on either side of the Bosphorus Straits, with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia, Istanbul is considered historically European with regard to the part of the city on the western shores of the strait… The city is the country’s biggest, and it is one of the most important on the continent and constitutes Turkey’s primary economic pole. Although Istanbul lost its status as political capital...