Over 23M foreigners visited Türkiye in seven months

Türkiye has attracted over 23 million foreign visitors in the first seven months of the year, an annual surge of 128.28 percent.

Germans made up the largest chunk of foreign visitors in January-July with nearly 3 million arrivals, soaring 137.36 percent compared to the same period last year, according to figures released by the Culture and Tourism Ministry on Monday.

They were followed by Russians with 2.1 million and the Brits with 1.8 million. 

By including Turkish nationals living abroad who also visited the country during the period, the figure touches 26.1 million visitors, according to ministry figures.

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Istanbul attracts most visitors

Istanbul, Türkiye's largest city by population and a top tourist destination, welcomed 36.9 percent of all foreign visitors, or 8.5 million.

The famed Turkish resort city of Antalya took second place with 27.6 percent or more than 6.3 million tourists. Edirne in northwestern Türkiye, bordering both Bulgaria and Greece, followed with a 10.9 percent share, or 2.5 million visitors.

The country's tourism revenues surged 190 percent from a year earlier to $8.72 billion in April-June, said data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Ersoy had previously said the country was aiming for $37 billion in tourism revenues and 47 million tourists this year, raising its targets from $35 billion and 45 million arrivals.

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