By Gokhan Ergocun
ISTANBUL (AA) – Türkiye hosted 26.76 million foreign tourists in the first seven months of 2023, official figures revealed on Friday.
The number of foreign arrivals in January-July rose 16.22% on a yearly basis, the Culture and Tourism Ministry said.
Istanbul, Türkiye's largest city by population and a top tourist draw, welcomed 36.5% of all foreign visitors, or nearly 9.77 million, in the seven-month period.
It was followed by the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya with 7.7 million foreign tourists and Edirne in northwestern Türkiye, which borders both Bulgaria and Greece, with 2.7 million foreign visitors.
As for the nationalities of foreign tourists, Russia took the first place with 13% – nearly 3.5 million visitors – over the same period, followed by Germany (12%) and the UK (7.71%).
In April alone, 7.1 million foreigners visited Türkiye, up 7.25% on a yearly basis.