Official data showed that visitor numbers of Türkiye rose 1.6% year-on-year to reach 50 million in 9 months of the year.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said that while Türkiye’s tourism potential remains strong, “potential alone is not enough if it is not planned, managed, and promoted effectively.” He emphasized the need for a smart, long-term strategy to expand tourism across all 81 provinces and throughout the four seasons.
Ersoy noted that Türkiye continues to lead in sustainable tourism certification and has diversified its offerings beyond the traditional “sea-sand-sun” model, now competing with more than 60 different tourism products.
Mixed performance in key markets
Between January and September, Russia remained Türkiye’s largest source market with 5.53 million visitors, followed by Germany (5.22 million) and the United Kingdom (3.54 million). Despite geopolitical tensions and the lingering impact of last year’s earthquakes, these results were achieved amid shifting travel seasons, Ersoy added.
To address seasonal fluctuations, the government reinstated airport subsidies, reducing off-season landing fees at Bodrum, Dalaman, and Antalya airports by 5%.
The average length of stay fell 2.4% to 11.5 nights, below the year-end target of 11.9 nights. Per-night visitor spending averaged USD 116, while total tourism revenue rose 5.7% to USD 50 billion. The government aims to reach USD 64 billion by year-end.
Europe and CIS markets show divergence
In Europe, Germany posted a 1.17% increase, while arrivals from the UK fell 3.7%, the Netherlands 2.2%, Belgium 2.9%, Norway 4.7%, and Greece 12%. However, growth came from Poland (+2%), Italy (+15.7%), and France (+0.2%). OECD European countries collectively sent over 17 million visitors, accounting for 40.8% of total arrivals.
Among CIS nations, Russia saw a 1% increase to 5.53 million, while total arrivals from the region slipped 0.5% to 10.1 million. Visitor growth was recorded from Ukraine (+9.1%), Turkmenistan (+24%), Uzbekistan (+15.5%), and Kyrgyzstan (+5.3%), whereas Azerbaijan, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan all declined.
MENA and far eastern Markets
Arrivals from Iran fell about 8% to 2.28 million, while India’s numbers dropped sharply by 22.4% to 193,000. The Chinese market remained stable, up 0.67% to 313,000.
In the broader West Asia region, arrivals rose sharply from Israel (+42.5%), as well as from Saudi Arabia (+5.9%), Northern Cyprus (+12.7%), and Iraq (+7.7%). Declines were recorded from the UAE (-2.1%), Qatar (-10%), Kuwait (-21.6%), Jordan (-9.6%), and Lebanon (-11.6%).
Meanwhile, long-haul markets performed better. The United States saw a 9.6% rise to 1.2 million visitors. Australia (+6.2%), South Korea (+6.3%), Japan (+25%), and Canada (+5.5%) also posted growth.
