Irish Tourism to Türkiye Surges In The First Half Of 2024

Türkiye announces year on year growth of 18.8% from last year.

The Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehment Nuri Ersoy, has announced the tourism figures for the first half of 2024.

More than 81,000 Irish tourists visited Türkiye in the first six months of 2024, marking an impressive 18.8% increase from the first six months of 2023.

In a press conference in Istanbul, Minister Ersoy announced that Türkiye had seen a 13.9% increase in visitors from around the world in the first half of 2024. The total number of visitors to Türkiye to the end of June 2024 has reached 26.1 million.

Türkiye’s tourism revenues in the same period showed a growth of 9.3%, to £18.5 billion. Türkiye’s average daily expenditure per visitor reached to a £76. Minister Ersoy said that the first 6 months’ results confirmed Türkiye’s commitment to its year-end target of 60 million visitors and £47 billion in revenues.

Türkiye achieved strong growth in key target markets

Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom, Türkiye’s traditional biggest markets, have all continued to grow as visitors flocked to Türkiye’s major tourism hubs Antalya, İstanbul, İzmir, and Muğla.

More than 2.7 million Russians chose Türkiye as their holiday destination, creating a 3% growth between January and June 2024. In the same period, the number of German visitors exceeded 2.5 million, and the growth in the German market was 9%. The United Kingdom, Türkiye’s third biggest market, showed a 19% growth as almost 1.8 million Brits visited Türkiye in the first half of the year.

Türkiye achieved its biggest growth in the Chinese market, hosting more than 187.000 visitors, with a 111% increase compared to the same period last year. More than 56.000 Japanese visitors visited Türkiye in the first 6 months of 2024, which is %96 more than the same period of 2023.

Demand for cultural heritage is also on the rise

The priceless historical, cultural, and archaeological heritage of Türkiye arouses curiosity worldwide.

In the first six months of 2024, Türkiye’s museums and historical sites hosted nearly 14 million visitors, an increase of 12% compared to the same period of the previous year. Türkiye’s most visited heritage sites in this period were Ephesus in İzmir, Mevlana Museum in Konya, Hierapolis & Pamukkale in Denizli, Göreme and Zelve/Paşabağları in Cappadocia/ Nevşehir.