Türkiye earned 25.53 billion US dollars from tourism in the third quarter of 2026, up about 5% on the same period last year and the highest figure for any July-September period, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said on Friday, according to Demirören News Agency (DHA) and the trade outlet Turizm Ajansı.
Ersoy announced the figures at a press conference at the Atatürk Cultural Centre (AKM) in Istanbul, DHA reported. Tourism revenue for the first nine months of the year rose 2.4% to 51.28 billion dollars, which the minister described as a record for the period, the reports said.
Update, 12:55: Ersoy also said the ministry expects Türkiye to close 2026 with more than 65 billion dollars in tourism revenue, according to DHA, İhlas News Agency (İHA, via TGRT Haber) and Hibya news agency. (Sources: DHA, TGRT Haber, Hibya.)
Visitors and spending
Türkiye received 49.13 million visitors in the January-September period, according to both reports. Turizm Ajansı said 23.37 million of them came in the third quarter.
Russia was the largest source market over the nine months with 5.70 million visitors, followed by Germany with 5.17 million and the United Kingdom with 3.20 million, DHA and Turizm Ajansı reported. Earlier figures for the year were covered in our report on foreign visitors in January-August.
Average spending per visitor per night rose 4.6% to 107.7 dollars in the nine-month period. Foreign visitors spent an average of 119.9 dollars a night, while Turkish citizens living abroad spent 72.2 dollars, the reports said.
Focus on new markets
Ersoy said the government would keep its main existing markets while stepping up promotion in the Americas, Canada, Asia, Africa and Australia, according to Turizm Ajansı and Son Dakika. Turizm Ajansı said the ministry also aimed to protect existing flight capacity and add new direct flights and extra seats in cooperation with airlines and tour operators.
The minister linked the results to a difficult year for travel, citing regional conflicts, flight disruptions and higher travel costs, and described Türkiye as an island of stability, Son Dakika reported.
For the sector’s employment trends, see tourism jobs fall as hotel employment drops.
Sources
- Bakan Ersoy: Bu yılı 65 milyar doların üzerinde bir gelirle kapatacağımızı öngörüyoruz (DHA)
- Bakan Ersoy: Türkiye üçüncü çeyrekte 25,5 milyar dolar turizm geliri elde etti (Turizm Ajansı)
- Tüm olumsuzluklara rağmen turizm gelirinde rekor (Son Dakika)
Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
