Turkey welcomes over 18M foreign visitors in H1

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The number of foreigners visiting Turkey surged 13.2% on a yearly basis in the first half of 2019, the country’s Culture and Tourism Ministry said on Wednesday.

Over 18 million foreign visitors entered the country this January-June, ministry data showed.

The historic metropolis of Istanbul continued to be Turkey’s top tourist draw, attracting 37.5% of all visitors -- around 6.8 million.

The Mediterranean resort city of Antalya followed with 29.56% or over 5.34 million foreign visitors in the first half.

Edirne, in northwestern Turkey, which borders both Bulgaria and Greece, saw the third-highest number of foreigners, with 1.8 million in the first half.

Russians accounted for nearly 15% or more than 2.7 million of the visitors, followed by Germans with some 10% (1.8 million visitors), and Bulgarians with 6.8% (1.2 million).

In June, the country also welcomed 5.3 million foreign visitors, up 18.05% year-on-year, data showed.

Last year, some 39.5 million foreigners entered the country, up from 32.4 million in 2017.