4.3 million tourists visit Turkey in January and February

New data released from the Culture and Tourism Ministry has shown that 4.3 million foreign tourists visited Turkey during the first two months of 2025 – this was an increase compared to the same period of 2024.

A record number of visitors in January

Official data showed that 2.17 million foreigners visited Turkey in January, which was a record number. The total number of tourists for the January and February period was 4.3 million, a 0.03% increase compared to data released from 2024.

Iranians the top nationals visiting

According to the data from the Ministry, 223,222 Iranians visited Turkey in February this year, followed by 179,512 nationals from Germany, and 167,611 Russian tourists. Finishing the top five of foreign nationals visiting were Bulgarians and citizens from the United Kingdom.  

As expected, Istanbul was the most visited city in the country, welcoming 57% of total foreign visitors during the two-month period – this amounted to 1.25 million people. Istanbul was followed by Edirne in north western Turkey and the Mediterranean city of Antalya as the most popular destinations for travellers so far this year.

High tourism targets in place for 2025

The Turkish government currently estimates that a total of 64 million visitors will travel to Turkey during the year 2025, bringing with them $63.6 billion USD in total revenue. This would be a new record for the country.

In the year 2024, Turkey welcomed 62 million visitors, including Turkish nationals who live abroad, and obtained $61.1 billion USD in revenue – an increase of 8%. This beat the previous high of 2023 when $54.3 billion USD in revenue was obtained from 49 million tourists.

Tourism currently contributes around 10% to Turkey’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and accounts for 5% of employment opportunities – it is a vital industry for continued growth in the country.