Turkey welcomes over 9 million tourists and sees a rise in tourism revenue

Tourism in Turkey kicked off 2026 with a significant increase in tourism revenue during the first quarter compared to the same period last year, reaching $9.896 billion, according to official figures published on 30 April; meanwhile, the total number of tourists visiting the country exceeded 9.2 million, with an average hotel spend per night exceeding $100.

According to reports in the Turkish media, the increase in tourism revenue during the first quarter of the year stood at 4.2% compared to the same period the previous year; of the $9.896 billion recorded, $9.694 billion came from visitors and nearly $202 million from transit passengers.

Foreign tourists and Turkish citizens living outside Turkey played a key role in these results. The latter generated 25.6% of total tourism revenue. At the same time, the number of Turkish citizens travelling abroad rose by 13.1% year-on-year to 2,936,279 people, with an average individual spend of $758.

Average spending per hotel night in Turkey exceeds $100

As for tourism expenditure, travellers arriving in Türkiye opted for both independent travel and organised package tours. Independent spending totalled $8.47 billion, compared to $1.225 billion generated from package tours. The average expenditure per hotel night was $102 among international visitors and $72 among Turkish citizens living abroad who visited Turkey.

Analysis of the tourism sector between January and March also shows that 27% of tourism expenditure was on food and drink, 15.8% on international transport and 13% on accommodation. Compared with the previous year, expenditure on accommodation rose by 21.2%, health expenditure by 18.4% and expenditure on food and drink in restaurants and other establishments by 13.7%.

The main reasons travellers gave for visiting Turkey were led by leisure, with 55.3% visiting the country for tourism, entertainment, sport and cultural activities; visits to family and friends accounted for 26.8%, whilst shopping accounted for 8.2%. In the case of Turkish citizens living abroad, the main reason among this group was precisely “visiting family and friends”, accounting for 66.7% of the total.

More tourists, but fewer Iranians

Meanwhile, the latest figures released by Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism show that arrivals of foreign tourists reached 6.84 million visitors in the first quarter, marking a 2.21% year-on-year increase. Including Turkish citizens living abroad who travelled to Turkey, the total number of visitors to the country reached 9.22 million, representing a 4.25% increase compared to the first quarter of 2025.

By nationality, tourists from Germany were the largest group of visitors to Turkey, totalling 678,000 (18% more than last year); they were followed by Russians with 651,000 (8% more) and Bulgarians with 539,000 (6% more). British tourists also stood out, reaching 314,000 during the first quarter (up 3%). In contrast, tourism from Iran fell sharply between January and March, with only around 527,000 Iranians travelling to Turkey during that period, 28% fewer than the previous year.

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