New data recently released from the Culture and Tourism Ministry in Turkey shows that the total number of foreign tourists heading to Turkey has increased by 8% in April 2025 when compared to the same month in 2024, with Istanbul taking top spot as the most visited city in the country.
German and Russian tourists lead the way
The released data shows that 3.9 million foreigners arrived in Turkey in April 2025. The Ministry noted that tourists from Germany and Russia led the way for arrivals in April with 571,042 Germans visiting in April, up by 31% compared to the previous year.
In second place, 375,820 Russian nationals visited Turkey in April. Visitors from the UK were third, Bulgaria fourth, and Iran fifth. According to the data, Germany accounted for 14.6% of total April arrivals, Russia accounted for 9.6%, and the UK accounted for 9.5% of total arrivals.
Four-month tourism data released
When looking at data from the first four months of 2025, Germany retained top spot with 1.14 million citizens visiting Turkey. 977,152 Russian nationals visited during the first four months, and 946,472 Iranians chose Turkey as their destination for travel during January to April. Bulgaria and the UK were the next countries with most visitors in the first four months.
According to the statistics, the total number of foreign arrivals during the January to April period amounted to 10.59 million people. Including arrivals of Turkish nationals who live abroad and return to visit family, this figure rises to 12.74 million people.
52.6 million tourist arrivals to Turkey in 2024
Last year, Turkey welcomed a total of 52.6 million tourists to the country, up nearly 7% compared to the year before. This generated a huge $61.1 billion USD in tourism revenues, showing just how important the tourism and hospitality sector is for gross domestic product and the economy. This year, the government has even higher hopes with targets of over 55 million tourists.
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