Record Breaking Number of Tourists Visit Istanbul

In July, Istanbul welcomed 1,873,097 foreign visitors, achieving the highest monthly tourist count in the past decade.

According to data from the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, Istanbul had welcomed 8,514,806 foreign tourists over the seven-month period in 2022. This figure surged by 15% this year, reaching 9,776,635 for the same period.

In July of the previous year, the city was visited by 1,759,506 foreign tourists. This number rose by approximately 6% this July, marking a significant uptick. Interestingly, after this July, the month with the next highest number of tourists was July of 2022.

For the transportation breakdown in July: 1,823,416 people traveled to Istanbul by air, while another 49,681 arrived by sea.

When comparing these figures to the previous year, there was a 5% increase in air arrivals and a staggering 72% increase in arrivals by sea.

In terms of specific entry points in July: Ataturk Airport welcomed 1,642 passengers; Sabiha Gökçen Airport saw 517,429; while Istanbul Airport served 1,304,345. For maritime entries, Tuzla Port welcomed 1,846; Karaköy Port 42,520; Sarayburnu Port 2,926; Zeytinburnu Port 1,719; Ambarlı Port 361; Haydarpaşa Port 240; Marmara Port 39; and Pendik Port 30 foreign visitors.

Of the tourists who traveled by air, 71.53% used Istanbul Airport and 28.38% used Sabiha Gökçen Airport.

Russians Lead the Tourist Count in July

The top nationality for the month was Russian, with 185,636 tourists visiting Istanbul. Following Russia were Germany with 135,568 tourists, Saudi Arabia with 135,096, the USA with 105,041, Iran with 97,352, France with 69,263, the UK with 69,006, Iraq with 51,257, Kuwait with 45,854, Israel with 45,257, and the Netherlands with 44,273.

In terms of percentages: 9.91% of the July tourists were from Russia, 7.24% from Germany, 7.21% from Saudi Arabia, 5.61% from the USA, 5.20% from Iran, 3.70% from France, 3.68% from the UK, and 2.74% from Iraq.

Notably, tourists came from 196 countries in July. The city saw one visitor each from the Solomon Islands, North Korea, and Papua New Guinea, and two visitors from Laos and East Timor.

One in Three Tourists to Turkey Visit Istanbul

Over the first seven months of the year, Istanbul hosted approximately one-third of the total 26,766,240 tourists that visited Turkey.

For a historical perspective: In July of 2019, 1,666,319 tourists visited Istanbul. This number drastically decreased to 301,930 in July 2020, likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but saw a rebound with 1,130,999 tourists in July 2021.