Türkiye welcomed a total of 41.6 million visitors in the first 9 months of the year and generated 26.63 billion dollars in tourism revenue

Türkiye welcomed a total of 41.6 million visitors in the first 9 months of the year and generated 26.63 billion dollars in tourism revenue.

The Russian Federation, Germany and the United Kingdom were the countries that sent the most visitors to Türkiye, respectively.

The targets revised for tourism for 2023—75 million tourists and 65 billion dollars in tourism revenue—are being rapidly approached.

Türkiye’s pre-revision targets of 50 million tourists and 50 billion dollars in tourism revenue are about to be reached before 2019 is even out.

Data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showed that a total of 41,564,536 visitors came to Türkiye in the first 9 months of the year.

According to the Ministry’s statistics for the January-September 2019 period, Türkiye welcomed 36,428,212 foreign visitors in the first 9 months, an increase of 14.50 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, while according to the third-quarter data announced by TÜİK, 5,136,324 citizens residing abroad arrived.

According to TÜİK data, tourism revenue reached 14 billion dollars in the third quarter, while tourism revenue of 26,634,764 thousand dollars was generated in the first 9 months in total.

Per capita spending in the third quarter and the first 9 months of the year was 649 dollars.

Countries Sending the Most Visitors to Türkiye

In the Ministry’s September 2019 statistics, the number of foreign visitors rose by 13.23 percent compared to the same month of the previous year to 5,426,818.

In the ranking of countries that sent the most visitors to Türkiye in the January-September 2019 period, again compared to the same period of the previous year, the Russian Federation ranked first with a 15.28 percent increase, Germany ranked second with a 12.43 percent increase, and the United Kingdom ranked third with a 16.05 percent increase. The United Kingdom was followed by Bulgaria and Iran.

In the September 2019 period, the ranking of countries sending the most visitors again did not change: the increase rate was 14.70 percent for the Russian Federation in first place, 6 percent for Germany in second place, and 9.64 percent for the United Kingdom in third place. The countries following the United Kingdom were again Bulgaria and Iran.