Foreign tourist arrivals in Türkiye surpassed pre-pandemic levels in January 2023, topping 2 million.
Türkiye’s Culture and Tourism Ministry announced that Türkiye had welcomed 1.28 million foreign tourists in January last year, and nearly 510,000 in January 2021, when the world tourism sector ground to a near halt amid widespread travel restrictions as well as airports and national border closures.
The pre-pandemic tourist arrivals in January 2020 were 1.18 million.
Russians made up the largest chunk of foreign visitors to Türkiye last month, with over 279,818 arrivals, double compared to a year ago. According to an international flight analysis, Turkish tourism largely benefitted from the Russia – Ukraine war.
They were followed by Bulgarians with 167,138 visitors (up 52% year-on-year), Germans with 139,955 (up 36.4%), and Georgians with 114,508 (up 190.4%).
Istanbul, Turkiye’s largest city by population and a top tourist hub, welcomed 59.3% of all foreign visitors, or 1.19 million.
Edirne province on Türkiye’s northwestern border with both Bulgaria and Greece, took second place with a 12.1% share, or 242,615 visitors. Resort city Antalya followed with 9.1%, or more than 183,338 tourists.
| Number of Foreign Travelers by Months & Years | |||||
| YEARS | CHANGE in % | ||||
| Months | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2022/2021 | 2023/2022 |
| January | 509 787 | 1 281 666 | 2 005 967 | 151.41 | 56.51 |
| February | 537 976 | 1 541 393 | 186.52 | ||
| March | 905 323 | 2 079 565 | 129.70 | ||
| April | 790 687 | 2 574 423 | 225.59 | ||
| May | 936 282 | 3 873 212 | 313.68 | ||
| June | 2 047 596 | 5 014 821 | 144.91 | ||
| July | 4 360 952 | 6 664 970 | 52.83 | ||
| August | 3 982 168 | 6 304 770 | 58.33 | ||
| September | 3 513 453 | 5 475 453 | 55.84 | ||
| October | 3 471 540 | 4 803 198 | 38.36 | ||
| November | 1 763 982 | 2 551 483 | 44.64 | ||
| December | 1 892 520 | 2 399 441 | 26.79 | ||
TOTAL | 24 712 266 | 44 564 395 | 80.33 | ||
| 1 MONTH TOTAL | 509 787 | 1 281 666 | 2 005 967 | 151.41 | 56.51 |
| (*): Provisional data | |||||
Sources: AA, Turkish Culture & Tourism Ministry
