The Turkish metropolis of Istanbul is expected to welcome 20 million visitors in total this year, up from 17.4 million foreign tourists last year and more than 16 million visitors in 2022, continuing the upward trend seen in the post-Covid era in tourist flows.
In the first five months of 2024, around 7 million international holidaymakers visited the city, an increase of 10.3% compared to the same period last year, which is an all-time high for the period.
Istanbul was the most visited city in the first five months of 2024, followed by Antalya Province with 3.7 million.
In May alone, 1.68 million foreign tourists visited Istanbul, an increase of almost 12% year-on-year.
An important development is the increase in the number of American tourists holidaying in Istanbul. The latest figures showed that more than 300,000 American travelers visited the city, which is mainly due to the increased flights launched by Turkish Airlines between the two countries. Turkey’s national carrier currently operates direct flights to 14 cities in the United States.
In May, Americans claimed the third place in the list of foreign visitors, after the Russians and Germans.
Russians were the largest group of foreign tourists with a 10.5% share overall, while Germans came in second with 8.4%.
Iranians (5%), British (4.8%), French (3.9%) and Saudis (3.4%) were the other major nationalities of foreign visitors.
With the outlook looking promising, Müberra Eresin, president of the Turkish Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB), said the occupancy rate in the city’s hotels is expected to hover around 60% to 65% in June.
More and more tourists from the US, Germany, the UK and Italy are visiting Istanbul, according to Ms. Eresin.
About 16 (15.78 million) million foreign tourists visited Turkey in January-May 2024, an increase of 12.47% compared to the same period last year.
Overall, Turkey aims to attract 60 million tourists and generate $60 billion in tourism revenue this year.
