The number of foreign tourists who visited Turkey reached an unprecedented number of 5.1 million in May, representing a 14% increase over the same period last year, according to data announced by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism yesterday, Tuesday.
This increase brought the total number of arrivals during the first five months of the year to a record level of 15.8 million, which reflects an annual increase of about 12.5% over last year.
Major tourist destinations
Antalya, the famous resort city on the Turkish Riviera, emerged as the top destination, attracting 1.8 million tourists last month, representing 35% of total arrivals, according to figures reported by the Turkish Daily Sabah newspaper from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
While Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey and its main tourist center, received about 1.7 million visitors, followed by the coastal province of Mugla on the Aegean Sea and the northwestern province of Edirne, bordering Bulgaria and Greece, according to the newspaper.
The newspaper said that Russians formed the largest group of foreign visitors in May, as their number reached 739,000, equivalent to 14.4% of the total international tourist arrivals.
They were followed by the Germans and the British with 729,550,000, respectively. During the first five months of the year, the Germans topped the list with 1.9 million arrivals, an increase of 17% year-on-year, followed by the Russians with 1.8 million and the British with 1.2 million.
Future expectations
Daily Sabah says the influx of tourists is crucial to Turkey’s economy, as it provides vital foreign exchange that helps address the budget and current account deficits.
The tourism sector reached a record level in 2023, with 49.2 million foreign arrivals generating a significant income of $54.32 billion, up from $46.48 billion in 2022.
The government expects the number of tourists to reach 60 million this year, with an expected income of $60 billion.
Istanbul accounted for 43.9% of the total foreign visitors, with a total of 6.9 million, while Antalya followed with a share of 23.1%, or 3.7 million tourists in the first five months of the year.
The significant growth in tourism is due to the increase in arrivals from Russia and Europe, especially Germany and the United Kingdom.
