Over 28 million Foreign Tourists visit Türkiye in first 7 months
ISTANBUL
Türkiye hosted 28.4 million foreign tourists between January and July, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry's data released on Aug. 22, marking a 2.1 percent drop compared to the same period in 2024.
Including Turkish citizens residing abroad, the total number of visitors reached 33.36 million. The country targets 65 million visitors and $60 billion in tourism revenue by the end of 2025.
Tourism revenues in the first half of the year rose 7.6 percent year-on-year to $25.6 billion, despite a slowdown in arrivals.
Industry experts note that despite the overall decline in arrivals, revenue growth points to increased per-visitor spending. In the January–June period, average expenditure per tourist rose to $996, compared with $942 in the same period last year.
From January to July, 3.56 million Russians visited Türkiye, accounting for 12.56 percent of all foreign tourist arrivals. This was slightly down from 3.61 million in the same period of 2024.
Germans were the second-largest group, with 3.4 million visitors compared to 3.5 million last year, followed by the United Kingdom with 2.35 million tourists, down from 2.43 million.
Iranian arrivals dropped 8 percent to 1.6 million, while Bulgaria sent 1.48 million tourists, a 9 percent decline.
The monthly trend also reflected a downturn. In July alone, total foreign arrivals fell 4.97 percent year-on-year to 6.97 million, following 1.8 and 1.5 percent declines in May and June, respectively.
Istanbul remained the top destination in the January–July period, attracting 10.51 million foreign tourists, representing 37.1 percent of total arrivals.
Antalya followed with 8.4 million visitors and a 29.5 percent share, benefiting from its mix of luxury resorts and beach tourism.
Edirne ranked third with 2.56 million visitors, many from neighboring Bulgaria drawn by its shopping opportunities.
The Aegean province of Muğla, known for popular holiday spots such as Bodrum and Marmaris, welcomed 1.83 million tourists, while İzmir attracted nearly 900,000 visitors.
