Türkiye was Russians’ most favored destination last year

ISTANBUL

Türkiye topped the list of destinations for Russian tourists in 2024, according to data released by Russia’s Association of Tour Operators.

Well over one-third of Russian tourists, fully 38.5 percent, chose to travel to Türkiye in 2024.

Türkiye was followed by the United Arab Emirates with an 11.4 percent share, China with 10.9 percent, Thailand with 10 percent and Egypt with 8.5 percent.

The total number of Russian tourists traveling abroad also climbed to 17.4 million last year, shooting up 15.4 percent from the previous year.

The number of Russian tourists who traveled to Türkiye last year rose to 6.7 million, up 6.3 percent from 2023.

Last year, Türkiye welcomed a total of 52.63 million foreign tourists, marking a 6.95 percent increase compared to the previous year.

Including Turks residing abroad, total visitors reached 62.3 million.

In 2024, Germans constituted the second largest group of foreign visitors with 6.62 million, up from 6.19 million in 2023.

Britons ranked third at 4.43 million in 2024, a steep 17 percent increase from the previous year, followed by Iranians at 3.28 million, up from 2.5 million.

In line with the increase in foreign tourists, Türkiye's tourism revenues in 2024 jumped 8.3 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of $61.1 billion.