Foreign visits to Türkiye jump 5.65% in August

By Tuba Ongun

Türkiye welcomed 6.7 million foreign visitors in August, jumping 5.65% annually, the Culture and Tourism Ministry said Friday.

The famed resort city of Antalya on the Turkish Riviera was the top draw for foreign visitors with 37%, attracting 3.5 million foreign visitors last month.

Istanbul, Türkiye's largest city by population and a top tourist spot, ranked second, attracting 1.7 million foreign visitors in August.

The Aegean province of Mugla, and the northwestern province of Edirne, which borders both Bulgaria and Greece, followed them with 628,654 and 525,270 foreign visitors, respectively.

At 871,270, Germans made up 13.1% of all foreign visitors, followed by Russians at 852,640, Britons at 588,448, Iranians at 280,951, and Poles at 279,040.

- The year so far

In January-August, foreign arrivals in Türkiye surged 13.95% year-on-year to 33.4 million.

Russia made up the largest chunk of foreign visitors in the first eight months of the year with 4.3 million arrivals, up 49.8% from last year.

They were followed by Germans with 4.1 million visitors, Britons with 2.7 million, and Bulgarians with 1.8 million in the eight-month period.

Istanbul saw 44.7% of all foreign visitors, or 6.3 million in the five-month period. Antalya took second place with 22.40% or 3.1 million tourists. Edirne followed with a 10.5% share or 1.5 million visitors.