The bustling Turkish metropolis of Istanbul attracted over 8.5 million foreign visitors in the first half of the year, up nearly 8% compared to the same period in 2023, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported Thursday, citing official data from the provincial directorate of culture and tourism.
The number of tourists visiting Türkiye’s cultural and financial hub from January through the end of June reached 8.56 million, according to the data from the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism. This figure stood at 7.9 million in the first six months of last year.
The arrivals to the city registered a steady rise when looking at the six-month figures, as it had hosted 6.75 million visitors in the same period of 2022, the data showed.
In June alone, nearly 1.64 million people opted to visit Istanbul, the data revealed, resulting in a moderate increase compared to the 1.62 million the city hosted in the same month of 2023.
Nearly 21.6 million foreigners visited Türkiye between January and June, according to official data shared last month, up 10.3% compared to the same period a year earlier.
Combined with the arrivals of Turkish citizens living abroad, the total arrivals in the six months reached 26.1 million, according to Culture and Tourism Ministry data.
The latest figures from Istanbul, as well as recent data that showed arrivals to the Mediterranean tourist hub Antalya exceeded 9 million in the first seven months, keep optimism for achieving new records for one of the key sectors of the Turkish economy.
Turkish government targets to see arrivals at the 60 million mark at the end of the year, while aiming to generate $60 billion from tourism revenues.
Of the tourists who arrived in Istanbul in June, 1.58 million came via air, and the remainder, or nearly 56,000 individuals, used seaports.
According to the directorate’s data, 73.39% of those arriving in the city preferred Istanbul Airport, while 26.51% came via Sabiha Gökçen International Airport.
Leading the list of arrivals to Istanbul in June were visitors from Russia with 171,633.
According to the data, they were followed by visitors from the U.S., with 112,966 and Germany, with 102,559.
Other countries that topped the list with the most arrivals were Iran, Saudi Arabia, the U.K., France, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Italy.
