30.01.2026 12:31
A long-awaited major threshold has been crossed in Turkey's tourism sector. Data for the year 2025 revealed that both revenue and visitor numbers reached the highest levels in the history of the Republic. The tourism revenue for 2025 reached a record high of 65.2 billion dollars.
The Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, shared the fourth quarter data for 2025 with the public at a press conference held at the Istanbul Atatürk Cultural Center. Minister Ersoy announced that Turkey's tourism revenue for 2025 is expected to be 65 billion 231 million dollars, while a target of 68 billion dollars in revenue for 2026 was also revealed. Ersoy stated that Turkey hosted 64 million visitors last year.
The table presented by Minister Ersoy showed that Turkish tourism has become a global power, not just a regional one, and indicated that the sector closed the year with a historic record. In the meeting, which was the first encounter with the sector in 2026, Ersoy evaluated the past year's performance and comprehensively outlined the current state of Turkey's tourism vision.
TURKEY HAS NOW GAINED EXPERIENCE IN MANAGING CRISES
Minister Ersoy stated that during a period of global economic and political uncertainties, Turkey continues on its path with determination under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Highlighting that balances can change even within 24 hours in the world, Ersoy expressed that Turkey has now gained a strong reflex and significant experience in managing crises.
TURKEY IS IN THE TOP LEAGUE OF GLOBAL TOURISM
Minister Ersoy reminded that according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization data, Turkey ranked 8th in the world in 2017 for hosting the most tourists, and has risen to 4th place by 2024. He noted that Turkey, which was 15th in tourism revenues in 2017, climbed to 7th place in 2024.
Emphasizing that this table is a clear indication that Turkey has become a global player in tourism, Ersoy stated that since they took office, they have restructured the tourism vision to encompass the country's entire potential.
Ersoy indicated that they have moved beyond sea-sand tourism; he expressed that diversity has significantly increased in many areas such as cultural and religious tourism, nature and ecotourism, archaeology, health and thermal, gastronomy, congress-fair, cruise, and winter tourism.
"HERITAGE FOR THE FUTURE" AND PROMOTIONAL INITIATIVE
Minister Ersoy stated that the "Heritage for the Future" vision and Night Museum practices are among the few successful initiatives in the world, and Turkey has become one of the most successful examples in this field.
He noted that the "mini-series" model used in the promotional strategy has achieved great success on a global scale, emphasizing that a single episode of the "An Istanbul Story" series reached 32 million views, and even the least viewed content received 10 million views.
Minister Ersoy pointed out that this success in tourism is backed by significant effort and intense teamwork, thanking everyone from sector representatives to tour operators, guides, and hotel staff.
Ersoy also made a special emphasis on the role of the Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) in this success during his speech.
TOURISM REVENUE BROKE A RECORD WITH 65.2 BILLION DOLLARS
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy made a presentation detailing the current state of tourism.
According to the data shared in the presentation, which clearly reflects the success shown in the figures, Turkey's tourism revenue reached 65 billion 231 million dollars in 2025.
This figure represents a 6.8% increase compared to 2024, while the increase rate compared to 2017 was 109%.
Tourism revenue rose from 31.254 billion dollars in 2017 to 61.103 billion dollars in 2024, and to 65.231 billion dollars in 2025.
Thus, Turkey has reached the highest level in its tourism revenue history.
The table that Minister Ersoy presented under the title "New Records in Tourism" for 2025 highlighted that the previous year ended with 64 million visitors and 65.2 billion dollars in revenue.
THE NUMBER OF VISITORS REACHED 63.9 MILLION
According to the data shared by Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the total number of visitors to Turkey in 2025 was recorded as 63 million 941 thousand.
This figure represents a 2.7% increase compared to 2024 and a 68% increase compared to 2017.
The number of visitors rose from 37 million 970 thousand in 2017 to 62 million 270 thousand in 2024, and to 63 million 941 thousand in 2025.
The top three countries sending the most visitors to Turkey in 2025 were the Russian Federation with 6.90 million, Germany with 6.75 million, and the United Kingdom with 4.27 million.
PER CAPITA SPENDING REACHED 100 DOLLARS
The average per capita nightly spending reached 100 dollars for all visitors in 2025.
This figure was 96.5 dollars in 2024 and 73.8 dollars in 2017.
According to the detailed distribution in the presentation; the per capita nightly spending of foreign visitors was 114 dollars, the per capita nightly spending of citizens residing abroad was 64.4 dollars, and the average for all visitors was 100 dollars.
In this category, the increase rate during the period from 2017 to 2025 was 38% for foreign visitors and 36% for all visitors.
The average length of stay for tourists in Turkey in 2025 was 10.7 nights.
2026 TARGET: 68 BILLION DOLLARS
According to the targets shared by Minister Ersoy at the meeting, Turkey's tourism revenue for 2026 is expected to reach 68 billion dollars.
During the meeting, where the expectation of double-digit growth in both main and distant markets was emphasized, it was revealed that 2025 was recorded as the year with the highest levels in Turkey's tourism history in terms of total revenue, per capita spending, and total number of visitors.