Friday, August 23, 2024 Türkiye saw a significant increase in foreign tourist arrivals in the first eight months of 2024, with nearly 29 million visitors, marking an 8.3 percent rise compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Culture and Tourism Ministry. Including Turkish citizens residing abroad, the total number of holidaymakers visiting Türkiye between January and July 2024 reached 33.
47 million. This surge highlights the continued appeal of Türkiye as a top global travel destination. Russians formed the largest group of foreign visitors, making up 12.
5 percent of the total. From January to July, 3.6 million Russian nationals visited Türkiye, slightly up from 3.
5 million during the same period last year. Germany followed as the second-largest source of tourists, with over 3.5 million Germans visiting, up from 3.
2 million in 2023. The UK also showed strong growth, with 2.4 million British tourists arriving in the first seven months of the year, a significant increase from 2.
06 million in the previous year. Iranian tourists saw an impressive 40 percent increase, reaching 1.75 million.
Despite ongoing conflicts, over 525,000 Ukrainians visited Türkiye, marking a 15 percent increase from 2023. Bulgarian arrivals also rose by 3 percent year-on-year to 1.62 million, with many visiting border cities for shopping.
In contrast, tourist arrivals from Israel plummeted by more than 90 percent compared to the same period in 2023, with only 45,483 visitors recorded. On the other hand, the number of Chinese tourists surged by 103 percent to 231,000, while American visitors increased by 8 percent to 772,000. Japanese tourist numbers also grew significantly, with an 82 percent rise to 66,000 visitors.
Istanbul remained the most popular destination, attracting 10.5 million international travelers, accounting for 36 percent of all foreign arrivals. Antalya followed closely with 8.
49 million visitors, representing a 29.3 percent share, while the northwestern province of Edirne welcomed 2.83 million tourists.
The western province of Muğla hosted 1.9 million foreign visitors in the first eight months of 2024. In July alone, Türkiye saw a 2.
6 percent year-on-year increase in foreign tourist arrivals, with 7.3 million visitors. The annual growth rates were 14 percent in May and 4.
95 percent in June. Tourism remains a crucial source of foreign currency for Türkiye, helping to finance the country’s current account deficit. The government aims to attract 60 million tourists and generate $60 billion in tourism revenues by the end of the year.
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