Türkiye moves to fourth place in most-visited countries list

ISTANBUL

Türkiye became the fourth most visited country in the world in 2024, welcoming 56.7 million international visitors, Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced on June 23.

According to the May 2025 World Tourism Barometer published by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Türkiye rose from fifth to fourth place in the global ranking of most-visited countries in 2024, surpassing Italy, said Ersoy.

Building on this momentum, Türkiye has set ambitious targets for 2025, hoping to attract 65 million visitors and $64 billion in tourism income.

“This great success is the result of our effective promotion of our historical heritage and cultural richness, our strong infrastructure and our tourism diversity spanning four seasons,” said Ersoy.

The top five most-visited countries were France, Spain, the U.S., Türkiye and Italy, according to the UNWTO data.

Türkiye welcomed more than 62 million visitors last year, generating a record $61.1 billion in tourism revenue.

Meanwhile, foreign tourist arrivals in Türkiye declined by 1 percent annually to 15.63 million in January-May.

In May alone, the number of foreign tourists visiting the country fell 1.8 percent annually to 5.04 million, data from the Tourism Ministry showed on June 23.

UNTWO’s May survey showed that uncertainty from growing geopolitical and trade tensions is weighing on travel confidence. This appears to be the case for the Turkish tourism sector.

The local tourism industry is closely monitoring the escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, amid growing concerns that a prolonged conflict could disrupt travel and reduce visitor numbers from those two markets.

In the first five months of this year, 1.18 million Iranian tourists entered the country, making Iran the fourth-largest source of visitors after Germany, Russia and the U.K.

In 2024, 3.28 million Iranians visited Türkiye, accounting for 5.2 percent of all foreign tourist arrivals.

According to official data, last year, some 770,000 Israelis came to Türkiye. Most of the visits by Israeli travelers took place during the summer season.

In the January-May period of 2025, tourist arrivals from Israel surged 39 percent from a year ago to around 35,000.

In the first five months of this year, German tourists fell 6 percent annually to 1.74 million, while the year-on-year decline in Russians was 5.2 percent to 1.72 million.

During this period, Türkiye drew 1.22 million visitors from the U.K., up 1.3 percent.