Turkish Airlines

Türkiye Surpasses Pre-Pandemic Levels in January

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

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