The number of tourists who visited the Muğla province at the end of September was over 2.5 million, Muğla governor said in a written statement on Wednesday.

In the first nine months of the year, 2,594,450 tourists arrived in Muğla by sea, air and land, said Governor Ahmet Altıparmak, adding that the number for the same period last year was 2,661,390.

“Muğla was the most popular spot for British tourists, with 1,280,360 Britons visiting the city. The Dutch follow with 467,721 tourists, then 156,214 Germans, 126,962 Russians and 114,849 Belgians,” the governor said. The southwestern province of Muğla is Turkey’s most popular tourism destination. It includes Marmaris and Bodrum and has a total bed capacity of 280,000.

Of the 2.5 million tourists who visited Muğla, 1,335,229 arrived via Dalaman Airport and 882,618 arrived via Milas-Bodrum Airport. The rest came via sea ports in Marmaris, Bodrum, Fethiye, Datça, Güllük, Turgutreis and Yalıkavak.

Meanwhile, Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay said Tuesday that Turkey earned $21.9 billion from 26.3 million tourists who visited Turkey in 2008, reported the Anatolia news agency.

Speaking at the 13th meeting of the Turkey-Belarus Business Council, Günay said the number of tourists visiting Turkey increased 12 percent in 2008.

Turkey has become one of the top 10 most visited countries in the world, despite the 9 percent decline of tourists due to the global economic crisis, he said.

Last year 110,000 Belarusian tourists visited Turkey, which means a 4 percent decrease from Belarus to Turkey, said Günay. Turkey wants to collaborate with Belarus on tourism.

Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Kobyakov said his government wants to give momentum to relations with Turkey.

Kobyakov called on Turkish businessmen to invest in his country saying the country was one of the top 50 countries to invest in. The Belarusian government was working on easier procedures to simplify foreign investments.

"I do not understand why our trade volume contracted. It should have been $330 billion instead of $330 million," he said