Foreign Tourist Arrivals in Türkiye Reach All-Time High of 46.7 Million

As of November, Türkiye experienced a surge in foreign tourist arrivals, setting a new record and bolstering the nation’s tourism industry. The Culture and Tourism Ministry revealed a 10.82% year-over-year increase, with arrivals reaching 46.7 million, surpassing the pre-pandemic level of 42.9 million. Including Turkish citizens living abroad, the total visitors for the first eleven months reached 52.74 million.

In November, Türkiye recorded 2.5 million foreign tourists, a minor 1% decline compared to the previous year, marking the first such dip since the pandemic began. Nevertheless, this figure still outperformed the pre-pandemic level of 2.2 million from November 2019.

Tourism remains a vital revenue stream for Türkiye, especially as the government aims to address the current account deficit and combat inflation. Last year witnessed a significant recovery from pandemic impacts, with record tourist numbers and revenue. The government had initially projected 60 million arrivals for this year.

The tourism sector has seen an upswing, notably driven by European holidaymakers from countries like Germany and the UK. Flight restrictions from Western nations over Russia’s actions in Ukraine also redirected Russian tourists to Türkiye. The nation welcomed nearly 6.1 million Russians in the first eleven months, followed by Germany with 6 million and the UK with 3.7 million.

In terms of nationality breakdown for November, Russians led with 245,493 visitors, followed closely by Germans and Bulgarians. Other significant contributors included Iranians and Georgians.