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Up to 23 million tourists are expected to visit Turkey during 2008, according to Turkish tourism officials.

The Turkish State Planning Organisation (DPT) revealed that it plans to build on the 18.5 million tourists that visited the country during 2007.

Increased numbers in 2008 could potentially generate approximately £10 billion in tourism revenue.

DPT officials hope that Turkey can begin to catch up with the major European tourism locations of Spain, Italy and France.

Italy currently welcomes 41.1 million tourists each year, while 58.5 million visit Spain and 79.1 million take a holiday in France.

Turkey is currently rated at number 11 in the world for welcoming the most tourists per year, and ninth for the size of its tourism revenues.

The country is also presently engaged in negotiations to become part of the European Union.

Equally, Istanbul, Europe's most populous city, is presently bidding to become the 2010 European Capital of Culture.

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