Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has released visitor arrival data for May and the first five months of the year, confirming that the downward trend in international tourism demand continues.
May arrivals down by 3.6%
According to official figures, the number of international visitors arriving in Türkiye fell by 3.58% year-on-year in May, declining to 4.856 million.
Russia remained the largest source market during the month with 701,000 visitors, followed by Germany with 686,000, the United Kingdom with 493,000, Bulgaria with 266,000 and Iran with 232,000 visitors.
More than 400,000 visitors lost in five months
During the January–May period, Türkiye welcomed 15.226 million foreign visitors, representing a 2.56% decline compared with the same period last year.
As a result, the country recorded a loss of more than 400,000 international visitors during the first five months of the year.
Germany ranked as Türkiye’s largest source market with 1.835 million visitors, followed by Russia with 1.739 million, the United Kingdom with 1.124 million, Bulgaria with 1.035 million and Iran with 904,000 visitors.
Sharp declines from gulf and middle eastern markets
The conflict triggered by military action involving the United States, Israel and Iran has significantly affected travel demand from Gulf and Middle Eastern countries.
Visitor arrivals from several countries in the region declined by as much as 54% during the first five months of the year. Nevertheless, Türkiye’s official statistics show that arrivals from countries classified under the “West Asia” category totaled approximately 1.1 million visitors, marking an overall decline of 11.16%.
Notable declines from the UK and Poland
While Germany posted growth of 5.44% to 1.835 million visitors, several major European source markets recorded declines.
Arrivals from Austria fell by 0.5% to 134,000, France by 5.69% to 322,000, the United Kingdom by 8.16% to 1.124 million, Poland by 8.47% to 382,000 and Greece by 4.67% to 244,000 visitors.
The Netherlands was one of the few European markets to record growth, increasing by 1.46% to 410,000 visitors.
Overall, arrivals from European countries declined by 0.83% to 7.594 million during the January–May period.
Russia and CIS markets remain in positive territory
Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) continued to support Türkiye’s tourism performance.
Russian arrivals increased by nearly 1% to 1.739 million visitors. Other CIS markets also reported growth, including Kazakhstan (+6.2% to 216,000), Azerbaijan (+0.84% to 319,000), Georgia (+3.36% to 519,000), Uzbekistan (+10.8% to 239,000) and Ukraine (+3.12% to 294,000 visitors).
Combined arrivals from Russia and CIS countries rose by 2.23% to 3.652 million visitors in the first five months of the year.
Mixed performance in emerging markets
Türkiye’s emerging long-haul source markets delivered mixed results.
Arrivals from the United States increased by 4.45% to 457,000 visitors, while Canada recorded a 14.4% rise to 107,000 visitors.
However, arrivals from Australia declined by 2% to 57,000 visitors, South Korea by 11.9% to 77,000 visitors and Japan by 11% to 54,000 visitors.
China grows strongly while India declines
China remained one of Türkiye’s fastest-growing source markets, with visitor numbers rising by nearly 29% to almost 200,000 arrivals.
In contrast, arrivals from India continued to weaken, falling by nearly 34% to 76,000 visitors.
Iran recorded a 23% decline to 904,000 visitors, while arrivals from Israel decreased by 10% to 31,000 and Saudi Arabia fell by 16.3% to 201,000 visitors. Visitor numbers from Romania also edged down by 1% to 312,000.
