More than 4 million tourists visited Turkey during the first two months of 2025, according to recent data published by the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which shows that Iran, Germany and Russia were the main countries of origin of the tourists, while Istanbul, Edirne and Antalya their main destinations.
According to data released by the Turkish press, some 4.3 million foreign tourists travelled to Turkey during the first two months of the year, which represents a slight increase of 0.03% compared to the same period in 2024, the year in which Turkey broke its all-time tourism record by exceeding the 60 million visitor mark.
While in January the number of tourists increased by 6.06%, reaching 2.17 million and setting a record high for the first month of the year, in February the number of foreign visitors travelling to the Eurasian country fell by 5.34% compared to the same month last year, registering a similar number of tourists than in January.
Tourists from Iran, according to the ministry’s data, topped the ranking of foreign visitors in February, with a total of 223,222 Iranians visiting Turkey last month; they were followed in this order by German (179,512), Russian (167,611) and Bulgarian tourists.
Istanbul, Edirne and Antalya, the favourite destinations
As for the places they travelled to, the city of Istanbul was once again the favourite destination for foreign tourists during the first two months of the year, with a total of 1.25 million visitors (57.8% of the total); in second place was the border province of Edirne, the main destination for Bulgarian tourists, who usually visit it for shopping purposes. In third place was the province of Antalya, a famous sun and beach destination on the Mediterranean coast.
52.6 million tourists visited Turkey last year, a figure that rises to 62.3 million if Turkish citizens living abroad who travelled to the country in 2024, are included. By 2025, the Turkish government expects to reach the 64 million tourists mark and obtain $63.6 billion in revenues from tourism.
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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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