Turkey can welcome 40 million foreign tourists by the end of 2018

Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry announced the total number of foreign visitors arrived Turkey in October 2018. In October 2018 the number of foreign visitors arrived increased by 25.48% compared to the previous year.

According to the temporary data obtained from the General Directorate of Security; in October 2018 the number of foreign visitors arrived is 3,755,467 which increased by 25,48 % compared to the previous year.

Turkey welcomed a total of 35,571,419 foreign tourists in the first 10 months of 2018. If the growth in arrivals continues on the remaining two months of the year, it is likely that Turkey can welcome 40 million tourists in 2018.

DISTRIBUTION OF ARRIVING FOREIGN VISITORS BY YEARS AND MONTHS
	YEARS			RATE OF CHANGE (%)
MONTHS	2016	2017	2018*	2017/2016	2018/2017
JANUARY	1 170 333	1 055 474	1 461 570	-9,81	38,48
FEBRUARY	1 240 633	1 159 833	1 527 070	-6,51	31,66
MARCH	1 652 511	1 587 007	2 139 766	-3,96	34,83
APRIL	1 753 045	2 070 322	2 655 561	18,10	28,27
MAY	2 485 411	2 889 873	3 678 440	16,27	27,29
JUNE	2 438 293	3 486 940	4 505 594	43,01	29,21
JULY	3 468 202	5 075 961	5 671 801	46,36	11,74
AUGUST	3 183 003	4 658 463	5 383 332	46,35	15,56
SEPTEMBER	2 855 397	4 076 630	4 792 818	42,77	17,57
OCTOBER	2 449 948	2 992 947	3 755 467	22,16	25,48
NOVEMBER	1 353 280	1 652 795		22,13
DECEMBER	1 302 157	1 703 789		30,84
TOTAL	25 352 213	32 410 034		27,84

10 MONTHLY TOTAL	22 696 776	29 053 450	35 571 419	28,01	22,43
(): Provisional Data.*

In the October 2018, the top source markets for Turkey are Russia with 16.09% (604,073 travelers), Germany with 15.70% (589,626) United Kingdom (UK) with 7.04% (264,217) share of the total visitors. United Kingdom (UK) is followed by Bulgaria and Georgia.

DISTRIBUTION OF ARRIVING FOREIGN VISITORS – TOP 5 COUNTRIES (2016-2018) JANUARY-OCTOBER

NATIONALITY	2018	2018 NAT. RATIO %	2017	2017 NAT. RATIO %	2016	2016 NAT. RATIO %
Russia	5 724 672	16,09	4 565 275	15,71	766 871	3,38
Germany	4 155 646	11,68	3 336 007	11,48	3 630 367	16,00
United Kingdom	2 158 304	6,07	1 576 783	5,43	1 647 299	7,26
Bulgaria	1 968 262	5,53	1 541 458	5,31	1 435 980	6,33
Georgia	1 792 478	5,04	2 071 838	7,13	1 867 929	8,23
OTHER	19 772 057	55,58	15 962 089	54,94	13 348 330	58,81
GENERAL TOTAL	35 571 419	100,00	29 053 450	100,00	22 696 776	100,00
(): Provisional Data.*

In the January – October 2018 period, the top tourism source markets for Turkey are Russia with 16.09% (5,724,672) Germany with 11.68% (4,155,646) United Kingdom (UK) with 6.07% (2,158,304) share of the total visitors. United Kingdom (UK) is followed by Bulgaria and Georgia.

DISTRIBUTION OF ARRIVING FOREIGN VISITORS BY NATIONALITY – (2016-2018) (JANUARY – OCTOBER)
	YEARS			NATIONALITY RATIO (%)			RATE OF CHANGE %
NATIONALITY	2016	2017	2018*	2016	2017	2018*	2017/2016	2018/2017
Algeria	148 770	179 916	240 707	0,66	0,62	0,68	20,94	33,79
Egypt	81 037	83 746	124 782	0,36	0,29	0,35	3,34	49,00
Libya	61 613	81 127	149 361	0,27	0,28	0,42	31,67	84,11
Morocco	73 612	94 882	147 438	0,32	0,33	0,41	28,89	55,39
South Africa Republic	25 451	29 049	45 692	0,11	0,10	0,13	14,14	57,29
Sudan	8 864	10 033	13 438	0,04	0,03	0,04	13,19	33,94
Tunisia	83 403	90 259	115 028	0,37	0,31	0,32	8,22	27,44
OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES	79 237	88 142	115 911	0,35	0,30	0,33	11,24	31,50
TOTAL AFRICA	561 987	657 154	952 357	2,48	2,26	2,68	16,93	44,92
TOTAL CENTRAL AMERICA	6 614	7 209	10 875	0,03	0,02	0,03	9,00	50,85
TOTAL NORTH AMERICA	11 689	12 871	18 172	0,05	0,04	0,05	10,11	41,19
Argentina	55 893	44 064	63 842	0,25	0,15	0,18	-21,16	44,88
Brazil	37 050	41 698	65 796	0,16	0,14	0,18	12,55	57,79
Chile	9 864	7 705	13 337	0,04	0,03	0,04	-21,89	73,10
Colombia	17 149	22 907	46 516	0,08	0,08	0,13	33,58	103,06
Venezuelan	4 336	5 713	7 751	0,02	0,02	0,02	31,76	35,67
OTHER SOUTH AMERICA COUNTRIES	12 639	13 392	22 553	0,06	0,05	0,06	5,96	68,41
TOTAL SOUTH AMERICA	136 931	135 479	219 795	0,60	0,47	0,62	-1,06	62,24
TOTAL AMERICA	155 234	155 559	248 842	0,68	0,54	0,70	0,21	59,97
Bangladesh	7 747	9 195	15 298	0,03	0,03	0,04	18,69	66,37
India	68 912	68 370	121 034	0,30	0,24	0,34	-0,79	77,03
Indonesia	37 125	62 933	97 674	0,16	0,22	0,27	69,52	55,20
Iran	1 441 468	2 118 263	1 788 901	6,35	7,29	5,03	46,95	-15,55
Malaysia	37 154	39 696	64 000	0,16	0,14	0,18	6,84	61,23
Pakistan	44 098	64 336	96 156	0,19	0,22	0,27	45,89	49,46
People’s Republic of China	137 730	192 616	340 381	0,61	0,66	0,96	39,85	76,71
Philippines	51 037	51 918	80 688	0,22	0,18	0,23	1,73	55,41
Singapore	12 636	11 594	18 672	0,06	0,04	0,05	-8,25	61,05
Thailand	10 131	22 518	43 621	0,04	0,08	0,12	122,27	93,72
OTHER SOUTH ASIA COUNTRIES	104 580	118 145	176 212	0,46	0,41	0,50	12,97	49,15
TOTAL SOUTH ASIA	1 952 618	2 759 584	2 842 637	8,60	9,50	7,99	41,33	3,01
Bahrain	33 686	48 528	63 132	0,15	0,17	0,18	44,06	30,09
Iraq	346 667	770 075	1 008 300	1,53	2,65	2,83	122,14	30,94
Israel	263 375	339 331	384 441	1,16	1,17	1,08	28,84	13,29
Jordan	182 301	249 450	363 045	0,80	0,86	1,02	36,83	45,54
Kuwait	160 116	228 906	266 219	0,71	0,79	0,75	42,96	16,30
Lebanon	164 847	204 791	284 762	0,73	0,70	0,80	24,23	39,05
Qatar	29 017	41 068	79 482	0,13	0,14	0,22	41,53	93,54
Saudi Arabia	464 527	596 646	678 113	2,05	2,05	1,91	28,44	13,65
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus	191 748	210 401	223 049	0,84	0,72	0,63	9,73	6,01
United Arab Emirates	28 454	38 369	35 547	0,13	0,13	0,10	34,85	-7,35
Yemen	21 001	24 090	33 807	0,09	0,08	0,10	14,71	40,34
OTHER WESTERN ASIA COUNTRIES	281 108	401 582	506 438	1,24	1,38	1,42	42,86	26,11
TOTAL WESTERN ASIA	2 166 847	3 153 237	3 926 335	9,55	10,85	11,04	45,52	24,52
TOTAL ASIA	4 119 465	5 912 821	6 768 972	18,15	20,35	19,03	43,53	14,48
Armenia	32 529	40 934	43 819	0,14	0,14	0,12	25,84	7,05
Azerbaijan	520 822	659 176	743 695	2,29	2,27	2,09	26,56	12,82
Belarus	108 779	222 823	237 172	0,48	0,77	0,67	104,84	6,44
Georgia	1 867 929	2 071 838	1 792 478	8,23	7,13	5,04	10,92	-13,48
Kazakhistan	221 768	378 086	399 048	0,98	1,30	1,12	70,49	5,54
Kirghizistan	76 525	89 525	100 039	0,34	0,31	0,28	16,99	11,74
Moldova	126 001	156 815	178 579	0,56	0,54	0,50	24,46	13,88
Russia Fed.	766 871	4 565 275	5 724 672	3,38	15,71	16,09	495,31	25,40
Tajikistan	20 962	25 620	35 231	0,09	0,09	0,10	22,22	37,51
Turkmenistan	134 384	191 348	213 254	0,59	0,66	0,60	42,39	11,45
Ukraine	982 766	1 212 644	1 301 128	4,33	4,17	3,66	23,39	7,30
Uzbekistan	111 177	161 014	212 813	0,49	0,55	0,60	44,83	32,17
TOTAL COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES	4 970 513	9 775 098	10 981 928	21,90	33,65	30,87	96,66	12,35
Albania	72 323	89 436	107 257	0,32	0,31	0,30	23,66	19,93
Bosnia and Herzegovina	58 902	80 289	108 724	0,26	0,28	0,31	36,31	35,42
Bulgaria	1 435 980	1 541 458	1 968 262	6,33	5,31	5,53	7,35	27,69
Croatia	18 470	19 434	35 553	0,08	0,07	0,10	5,22	82,94
Cyprus	9 379	9 133	9 213	0,04	0,03	0,03	-2,62	0,88
Estonia	34 088	46 163	58 784	0,15	0,16	0,17	35,42	27,34
Kosovo	89 601	103 289	124 204	0,39	0,36	0,35	15,28	20,25
Latvia	32 593	43 651	62 523	0,14	0,15	0,18	33,93	43,23
Lithuania	106 399	130 090	193 551	0,47	0,45	0,54	22,27	48,78
Macedonia	127 212	149 250	183 670	0,56	0,51	0,52	17,32	23,06
Malta	5 056	4 606	7 079	0,02	0,02	0,02	-8,90	53,69
Montenegro	14 180	15 837	20 220	0,06	0,05	0,06	11,69	27,68
Romania	322 391	373 995	580 387	1,42	1,29	1,63	16,01	55,19
Serbia	95 050	124 604	195 804	0,42	0,43	0,55	31,09	57,14
Slovenia	16 466	21 581	34 817	0,07	0,07	0,10	31,06	61,33
OTHER EUROPE NON-OECD COUNTRIES	1 380	1 406	1 903	0,01	0,00	0,01	1,88	35,35
TOTAL EUROPE NON-OECD	2 439 470	2 754 222	3 691 951	10,75	9,48	10,38	12,90	34,05
Austria	284 802	258 426	318 333	1,25	0,89	0,89	-9,26	23,18
Belgium	385 253	389 767	475 316	1,70	1,34	1,34	1,17	21,95
Czech Republic	82 512	121 056	220 599	0,36	0,42	0,62	46,71	82,23
Denmark	318 470	257 272	311 196	1,40	0,89	0,87	-19,22	20,96
Finland	116 657	90 244	120 834	0,51	0,31	0,34	-22,64	33,90
France	503 910	520 029	657 782	2,22	1,79	1,85	3,20	26,49
Germany	3 630 367	3 336 007	4 155 646	16,00	11,48	11,68	-8,11	24,57
Greece	497 289	503 165	543 400	2,19	1,73	1,53	1,18	8,00
Hungary	59 324	73 043	115 348	0,26	0,25	0,32	23,13	57,92
Iceland	3 122	2 225	2 656	0,01	0,01	0,01	-28,73	19,37
Ireland	50 765	46 070	66 171	0,22	0,16	0,19	-9,25	43,63
Italy	185 588	172 282	240 190	0,82	0,59	0,68	-7,17	39,42
Luxembourg	4 486	4 496	7 177	0,02	0,02	0,02	0,22	59,63
Netherlands	858 544	745 676	950 313	3,78	2,57	2,67	-13,15	27,44
Norway	147 758	106 813	149 579	0,65	0,37	0,42	-27,71	40,04
Poland	195 632	280 312	619 093	0,86	0,96	1,74	43,29	120,86
Portugal	24 002	22 438	34 343	0,11	0,08	0,10	-6,52	53,06
Slovakia	58 378	94 209	152 392	0,26	0,32	0,43	61,38	61,76
Spain	93 375	86 479	145 020	0,41	0,30	0,41	-7,39	67,69
Sweden	302 299	266 770	355 508	1,33	0,92	1,00	-11,75	33,26
Switzerland	199 220	188 272	246 869	0,88	0,65	0,69	-5,50	31,12
United Kingdom (UK)	1 647 299	1 576 783	2 158 304	7,26	5,43	6,07	-4,28	36,88
OTHER EUROPE OECD COUNTRIES		2			0,00			-100,00
TOTAL EUROPE OECD	9 649 052	9 141 836	12 046 069	42,51	31,47	33,86	-5,26	31,77
TOTAL EUROPE	12 088 522	11 896 058	15 738 020	53,26	40,95	44,24	-1,59	32,30
TOTAL OCEANIA	493	322	527	0,00	0,00	0,00	-34,69	63,66
Australia	91 437	69 429	86 601	0,40	0,24	0,24	-24,07	24,73
Canada	95 767	69 442	94 050	0,42	0,24	0,26	-27,49	35,44
Japan	38 942	39 894	68 627	0,17	0,14	0,19	2,44	72,02
Mexico	18 967	15 716	30 154	0,08	0,05	0,08	-17,14	91,87
New Zeland	14 312	10 102	14 619	0,06	0,03	0,04	-29,42	44,71
South Korea	92 694	101 690	132 690	0,41	0,35	0,37	9,71	30,48
United States of America	415 046	303 709	387 450	1,83	1,05	1,09	-26,83	27,57
TOTAL OTHER OECD	767 165	609 982	814 191	3,38	2,10	2,29	-20,49	33,48
TOTAL STATELESS	33 397	46 456	66 582	0,15	0,16	0,19	39,10	43,32
FOREIGN TOTAL	22 696 776	29 053 450	35 571 419	100,00	100,00	100,00	28,01	22,43
Note: Provisional Data.