Foreign tourist arrivals surge 13 percent in first quarter

ANKARA

Foreign tourist arrivals increased by 13.2 percent in January-March to more than 7 million, while tourism revenues in the first quarter of 2024 rose 5.4 percent year-on-year to $8.78 billion, separate data showed on April 30.

Including the Turks residing abroad, more than 9 million people visited Türkiye in January-March, according to the numbers of the Tourism Ministry.

In March alone, Türkiye welcomed 2.7 million foreign tourists, while nearly 700,000 Turks residing in foreign countries entered Türkiye.

Iranians constituted the largest group of foreign visitors in the first three months of 2024. Some 745,000 tourists from Iran vacationed in Türkiye in January-March.

The number of Germans visiting the country surged 36 percent year-on-year to 680,000.

Türkiye hosted 682,000 Russian tourists in the same period, marking a 12 percent decline compared with the first three months of last year.

More than 575,000 Bulgarians visited the country in January-March, up 10 percent from a year ago. Bulgarians travel to Türkiye mostly for shopping purposes, visiting the provinces on the border, such as Edirne.

Istanbul was the most favorite destination among foreign travelers. The megacity welcomed 3.8 million holidaymakers, accounting for nearly 54 percent of all foreign tourist arrivals.

Antalya hosted nearly 860,000 foreign tourists, while Edirne came third with 833,000 visitors.

Tourism revenues rise

The Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) also reported on April 20 that tourism revenues rose by 5.4 percent in the first quarter to $8.7 billion. Turks residing abroad accounted for 21 percent of this amount.

The average expenditure per capita was $975, down from $1,019 in the same period of 2023, and the average expenditure per night rose 10.6 percent to $93.

Food accounted for 22.6 percent of all expenditures, while the shares of international transport and package tours were 16.7 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively. Accommodation accounted for another 11.2 percent of total expenditures.

Visitors spent $1.17 billion on clothes and shoes and nearly $390,000 on souvenirs, the TÜİK data also showed.

Tourism expenditures of Turks who visited foreign countries increased by 11.3 percent in the first three months of 2024 to $1.78 billion. Of that amount, $1.4 billion was individual expenditures, while package tour expenditures were $335 million.

Türkiye aims to host 60 million visitors and generate $60 billion in tourism revenues this year.