- Özgür Töre
Turkey's Culture and Tourism Ministry announced tourist arrival figures for May 2020. Due to the pandemic, the number of foreigners visiting the country dropped by a record - 99.26 percent in May when compared to the same month last year.
Only 29 thousand foreign travelers visited Turkey in May 2020 and 4.2 million in the first five months of the year.
| YEARS | CHANCE IN % | ||||
| MONTHS | 2018 | 2019 | 2020* | 2019/2018 | 2020/2019 |
| January | 1 461 570 | 1 539 496 | 1 787 435 | 5.33 | 16.11 |
| February | 1 527 070 | 1 670 238 | 1 733 112 | 9.38 | 3.76 |
| March | 2 139 766 | 2 232 358 | 718 097 | 4.33 | -67.83 |
| April | 2 655 561 | 3 293 176 | 24 238 | 24.01 | -99.26 |
| May | 3 678 440 | 4 022 254 | 29 829 | 9.35 | -99.26 |
| June | 4 505 594 | 5 318 984 | 18.05 | ||
| July | 5 671 801 | 6 617 380 | 16.67 | ||
| August | 5 383 332 | 6 307 508 | 17.17 | ||
| September | 4 792 818 | 5 426 818 | 13.23 | ||
| October | 3 755 467 | 4 291 574 | 14.28 | ||
| November | 1 966 277 | 2 190 622 | 11.41 | ||
| December | 1 950 705 | 2 147 878 | 10.11 | ||
| TOTAL | 39 488 401 | 45 058 286 | 14.11 | ||
| 5 Months Total | 11 462 407 | 12 757 522 | 4 292 711 | 11.30 | -66.35 |
| (*): Provisional data | |||||
Istanbul was the top destination for tourists, hosting 54.86% of all visitors- around 2.3 million. The northwestern city of Edirne came in second place with 13.27% or nearly 570,000 foreign visitors in the same period. And the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya received the third-highest number of foreigners, with about 432,000 during the first five months.
Border gates with the highest number of foreign visitors entering Turkey are:
Edirne - 59.05 percent (17615 travelers)
Artvin - 13.94 percent (4157)
Kilis - 7.57 percent (2258)
Samsun - 5.95 percent (1775)
İstanbul - 2.84 percent (847)
| Number of Travelers Visiting Turkey in May | ||||||
| Countries | 2020* | 2020 Country % | 2019 | 2019 Country % | 2018 | 2018 Country % |
| Bulgaria | 6 785 | 22.75 | 243 933 | 6.06 | 197 324 | 5.36 |
| Georgia | 3 061 | 10.26 | 185 118 | 4.60 | 203 232 | 5.52 |
| Ukraine | 2 291 | 7.68 | 202 069 | 5.02 | 194 705 | 5.29 |
| Romania | 1 985 | 6.65 | 57 018 | 1.42 | 45 882 | 1.25 |
| Serbia | 1 912 | 6.41 | 17 310 | 0.43 | 13 486 | 0.37 |
| Other | 13 795 | 46.25 | 3 316 806 | 82.46 | 3 023 811 | 82.20 |
| TOTAL | 29 829 | 100.00 | 4 022 254 | 100.00 | 3 678 440 | 100.00 |
| (*): Provisional Data | ||||||
| Number of Travelers Visiting Turkey in January - May Period | ||||||
| Countries | 2020* | 2020 Country % | 2019 | 2019 Country % | 2018 | 2018 Country % |
| Bulgaria | 406 245 | 9.46 | 982 717 | 7.70 | 776 968 | 6.78 |
| Germany | 357 092 | 8.32 | 1 213 857 | 9.51 | 1 108 552 | 9.67 |
| Georgia | 332 731 | 7.75 | 697 065 | 5.46 | 854 460 | 7.45 |
| Russian Fed. | 318 052 | 7.41 | 1 673 652 | 13.12 | 1 388 456 | 12.11 |
| Iran | 220 178 | 5.13 | 700 711 | 5.49 | 980 103 | 8.55 |
| Other | 2 658 413 | 61.93 | 7 489 520 | 58.71 | 6 353 868 | 55.43 |
| TOTAL | 4 292 711 | 100.00 | 12 757 522 | 100.00 | 11 462 407 | 100.00 |
| (*): Provisional Data | ||||||
