Türkiye sees 23% hike in February foreign tourist arrivals

By Tuba Ongun

Foreign tourist arrivals in Türkiye jumped 23% from last year to 2.3 million in February, according to official data released on Friday.

Istanbul, Türkiye's largest city by population, saw the largest number of foreign visitors with 1.3 million last month, the Culture and Tourism Ministry figures showed.

The northwestern province of Edirne, which borders both Bulgaria and Greece, saw 268,735 foreign tourist arrivals in February. The famed resort city of Antalya on the Turkish Riviera followed with 222,720 foreign visitors.

Iranians made up the largest chunk of foreign visitors to Türkiye with 226,104 visitors, doubled compared to a year ago.

Russians took second place with regards to nationalities of foreign visitors over the same period, with 203,073 in February, down 11% year-on-year.

They were followed by Germans with 187,946 visitors and Bulgarians with 182,887 visitors.