Istanbul welcomes nearly 7 million foreign tourists

By Duygu Yener and Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) – The number of foreign visitors to Istanbul rose by 10.8 percent in the first eight months of this year, when compared to the same period last year, official data said Tuesday.

Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism said this year, so far, 6.95 million foreign tourists have visited the city, official data showed.

A 37.3 percent surge to 1.24 million foreign tourists was seen this August, when compared to the same period last year.

Most tourists came to Istanbul from Germany (656,428 people), followed by Iran (526,084 people) and Saudi Arabia (413,273).

The visitors from Arab countries went up by 36.7 percent to 1.78 million between January and August 2017, compared to the same period last year.

Most tourists came to Istanbul through the Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen airports, 5.45 million and 1.47 million, respectively.

The total foreign tourists were 9.2 million in 2016, 12.4 million in 2015, 11.8 million in 2014 and 10.4 million in 2013.