Turkey received 28.4 million foreign tourists so far this year – between January and July – according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism published just a few days ago, which represents a 2.1% decrease compared to last year, although tourism revenues grew during that period.
According to data published by media outlets such as the English edition of the Turkish daily Sabah, if Turkish citizens living abroad are included, the total number of tourists reached 33.36 million, but still far from the Turkish government’s target of 65 million visitors and 60 billion dollars in tourism revenues for this year.
Despite the decline in tourist arrivals to the Eurasian country, tourism income in the first half of the year rose 7.6% year-on-year to $25.8 billion. Industry experts point to this growth in revenues as an indication that people travelling to Turkey are spending more. In fact, between January and June the average expenditure per tourist increased to 996 dollars, compared to the 942 dollars paid by tourists in the same period last year.
In terms of the origin of tourists, between January and July, a total of 3.56 million Russian citizens visited Türkiye, representing 12.56% of all foreign tourists travelling to the country, although the figure is somewhat lower than the 3.61 million visitors from Russia that Turkey welcomed in the same period in 2024. The second largest group were Germans, with 3.4 million visitors, also lower than the 3.5 million recorded last year, while the third largest group were the British, with 2.35 million tourists compared to 2.43 million in the same period in 2024. Iranian and Bulgarian arrivals fell by 8% and 9% to 1.6 million and 1.48 million tourists, respectively.
Istanbul and Antalya, the most visited destinations
In terms of destinations visited by tourists, Istanbul remained the top destination for foreign visitors between January and July, attracting 10.51 million tourists, or 37.1% of total arrivals. Second place went to Antalya with 8.4 million visitors (29.5% of the total) thanks to its luxury resorts and beautiful beaches.
Third place went to Edirne (2.56 million tourists), being mainly a shopping destination for Bulgarian tourists. The province of Muğla on Turkey’s Aegean coast ranked as the fourth most important destination (1.83 million tourists), thanks to famous places such as Bodrum and Marmaris, while the province of Izmir – also on the Aegean coast – was Turkey’s 5th top destination, receiving almost 900,000 foreign visitors.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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