Turkey said that it would scrap visas for UK and EU tourists from next month in a move to increase its “tourism potential”.
British visitors currently have to pay £27 for a visa online which allows stays of up to 90 days in a 180 day period.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “As of 2 March 2020, Turkey has decided to exempt visa requirements for the members of the European Union Schengen area, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland as well as the United Kingdom citizens for touristic travels to Turkey for every 90 days within 180 day period.
“This step aims at increasing our tourism potential with these countries as well as further developing our trade, economic and cultural relations.”
According to the country’s statistics institute, more than 20 million tourists visited the country from the EU last year. Of those, 2.5 million were from the UK, 1.1 million from the Netherlands, 880,000 from Poland, 557,000 from Belgium, 401,000 from Austria and 257,000 from Spain.
Tourism revenues reached $34.5bn last year, up 17% on the year.