The numbers behind Turkish tourism, with sources and dates, for businesses deciding where and how to work in Turkey. Figures are from press reports of Ministry of Culture and Tourism and TÜİK (the national statistics office) data, and some are provisional.
Headline numbers
Year
Foreign visitors
Tourism revenue
2024
52.63 million (+6.95%)
$61.1 billion (+8.3%)
2025
About 52.8 million, a record
$65.23 billion (+6.8%), about $1,008 per visitor
2026 so far
40.94 million in January–September (−1.5%)
$25.75 billion in the first half (−0.1%)
In 2025 Turkey also counted 63.94 million visitors in total, which includes Turkish citizens living abroad. The 2025 revenue beat the government’s $64 billion target, while the visitor target of 65 million was missed. The Minister has set a 2026 revenue target of $68 billion. After a record 2025, 2026 is running flat to slightly down, which the Minister linked to Middle East tensions and airspace closures.
The UK and Irish markets
UK: about 4.43 million visitors in 2024 and about 4.27 million in 2025, making the UK Turkey’s third-largest market after Russia (6.90 million) and Germany (6.75 million).
In the first quarter of 2026 UK arrivals were up 3.4%, but in January–September they were 3.20 million, down about 9.8% on the same period of 2025. The UK was still the third-largest market, behind Russia (5.70 million) and Germany (5.17 million).
Ireland: about 196,000 visitors in 2024, up around 20%. In the first quarter of 2026 Irish arrivals were 23,049, up 17%.
International flights at Antalya were down 7% and at Dalaman 13.1% in January–September 2026, according to airport authority (DHMİ) data.
Capacity
As of October 2025, provisional Ministry data showed 21,986 licensed accommodation facilities with 941,803 rooms and 1,961,663 beds. By beds, Antalya has about 654,000, Istanbul about 269,000 and Muğla about 245,000. Antalya alone received 17.12 million tourists in 2025.
Travel is a major export: travel made up about 48% of Turkey’s roughly $125 billion of services exports in 2025.
Rules that matter to foreign partners
Travel agency licensing. Agencies are regulated under Law No. 1618 and must be members of TÜRSAB. They are licensed in groups A, B and C and need a physical office. See how to check a business is genuine.
Accommodation tax. The rate is temporarily 1% instead of 2% for services from 1 May 2026 to 31 December 2026. We have not confirmed what happens from 1 January 2027.
Foreign booking platforms. A bill that would require platforms such as Booking.com and Airbnb to hold a Ministry permit and cap commissions on domestic sales at 17% was approved by a parliamentary commission in October 2026, with an expected start of 1 January 2027. We have not confirmed a full parliamentary vote. Follow it in Trade News.
Investment incentives. Tourism investment and operating certificates are issued under the Tourism Encouragement Law (No. 2634). Specific incentives vary, so take advice before relying on them.
Checked 8 November 2026. These are secondary reports of official data, and some figures are provisional. Always confirm against the Ministry of Culture and Tourism or TÜİK before relying on them in a business plan.
