$50 billion in Türkiye’s tourism revenues in 9 months economy

Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced on Friday that tourism revenues during the first 9 months of this year amounted to $50 billion, an increase of 5.7% compared to the same period in 2024.

Ersoy said – during a press conference held at the Ataturk Cultural Center in Istanbul – that Turkey reached its highest level in its history in tourism during the third quarter of 2025, and pointed out that his country has become one of the world’s leading countries in the field of sustainable tourism.

The minister stressed that Türkiye exceeds the numbers of the previous year every year, and records record numbers in tourism revenues and the number of tourists.

He explained that Turkey received about 30 million visitors in the first nine months of 2017, 49 million and 181 thousand visitors in the same period in 2024, and 49 million and 993 thousand visitors in 2025.

He said: “We placed Turkey among the top 5 countries in the global tourism market. According to United Nations data, we surpassed Italy in 2024, and rose to fourth place in the tourism ranking.”

The minister added that his country aims to achieve tourism revenues worth $64 billion by the end of this year.

He stated that the Russians topped the list of tourists coming to Türkiye, followed by the Germans and then the British.

Türkiye received 62.3 million tourists during 2024, and tourism revenues recorded $61.1 billion.

Tourism in Türkiye relies heavily on a variety of historical and natural sites, and on beach resorts along the coasts of the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, and has recently turned into a preferred destination for culture and medical tourism.

Turkey is one of the most prominent winter tourism destinations, as it includes many ski centers, most notably “Uludag” in the state of Bursa, near Istanbul, “Arcis” in the state of Kayseri, and “Palan Dokan” in the state of Erzurum (east).