35 million foreign tourists visited Turkey between January and August

Turkey welcomed a total of 34.83 million foreign tourists between January and August, a figure which was, however, slightly lower than that for the same period last year, according to the latest figures provided by the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

Between January and August, the number of tourists fell by 1.84% to a total of 34,826,677 people, according to reports in the Turkish media citing figures from the Ministry. Specifically, the number of foreign visitors to Turkey in August 2026 fell by 0.03% compared with the same month last year, reaching 6,963,065.

Russia leads tourist arrivals in August

In August, Russia was the country that sent the most visitors to Turkey, totalling 1,052,211 people and accounting for 15.11% of the total. It was followed by Germany, with 982,353 visitors, and the United Kingdom, with 590,898. Türkiye also welcomed 381,495 visitors from Iran and a further 324,295 from Poland.

At the same time, Antalya ranked first in August amongst the destinations receiving the highest number of foreign visitors, accounting for 36.24% of visits and a total of 2,523,505 tourists. Istanbul came second, with 1,929,358 visitors, whilst the province of Muğla in the Aegean region took third place, with 642,849 tourists. Edirne, with 485,468 visitors, and İzmir, with 240,212, also ranked amongst the five most visited provinces in Turkey.

Istanbul, the most visited destination by foreign tourists

Taking the entire period from January to August into account, Istanbul was the destination that received the highest number of foreign visitors, with a total of 12,473,679 tourists, accounting for 35.82% of the total number of visitors on its own. Antalya came second, with 10,282,502 visitors, whilst Edirne, Muğla and İzmir rounded off the top five.

Furthermore, between January and August this year, Russians once again took first place amongst foreign tourists travelling to Turkey, with a total of 4,717,814 visitors. A further 4,391,616 tourists were Germans, followed by 2,714,652 British, 1,911,827 Iranians and 1,738,991 Bulgarians.

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