Turkey welcomes over 10 mln tourists in first 7 months of 2021

ANKARA

Turkey hosted 10.88 million foreign visitors in the first seven months of 2021, the country's Culture and Tourism Ministry said on Aug. 23. 

While climbing 85.44% year-on-year, the figure fell by 78% versus the same period in 2019 before the eruption of coronavirus pandemic dealt a major blow to international travel, showed the official data.

The metropolis Istanbul was the top destination in the seven-month period, attracting around 38.2% of foreign visitors, or 3.85 million people.

The Mediterranean resort city of Antalya saw the second-highest number of visiting foreigners with 3.26 million and Edirne in northwestern Turkey, which borders both Bulgaria and Greece, followed with some 1.22 million.

Russians accounted for 15.41% of visitors, followed by Germans with 12.5%, Ukrainians with 11.08%, Bulgarians with 4.85%, and Iranians with 4.3%.

In July alone, the country hosted 4.36 million tourists, up 367.5% on a yearly basis and down 86% versus the same period in 2019.

Last month, Antalya, Istanbul, and Edirne were the top tourist destinations.

In 2020, more than 12.7 million foreigners arrived in Turkey during the pandemic, down from nearly 45.05 million in the previous year.