The number of foreign visitors to Türkiye reached 3.61 million in April, according to official data, as the critical tourism industry sustains a strong trend.
Foreign arrivals climbed 8.7% from a year ago and exceeded 3.3 million tourists who arrived in April 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic halted travel worldwide.
Tourists from Germany topped the list among nations with 434,863 arrivals last month, the Culture and Tourism Ministry said.
They were followed by Russia at 396,155 and the United Kingdom at 330,112.
Arrivals from January through April rose 11.8% year-over-year to nearly 10.7 million, the Culture and Tourism Ministry said.
The data show that, combined with the 2 million Turkish citizens living abroad, the figure reached almost 12.7.
The foreign exchange it brings makes tourism vital to Türkiye, which is keen to flip current account deficits to a surplus, prioritizing exports, production and investments while curbing rising inflation.
Foreign arrivals hit a record 49.2 million in 2023, up from 44.6 million tourists who arrived in 2022, driven by visitors from Russia and Europe, mainly Germany and the United Kingdom.
The influx from Russia stems mainly from flight restrictions imposed by Western nations over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Germans led the way in the first four months with 1.1 million arrivals, the data showed, marking a 16.2% increase from a year ago.
They were followed by Russians and Iranians with over 1 million and 946,437 arrivals, respectively.
Tourism income climbed to an all-time high of $54.32 billion, compared to $46.48 billion in 2022.
The government expects arrivals to reach 60 million this year before hitting 90 million in 2028. The income is envisaged to rise to $60 billion this year and $100 billion five years from now.
