Turkish residents spent about 155 billion lira on travel within Türkiye in the second quarter of 2026, a 32.6% increase on the same period last year, according to data published on Thursday by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).
The rise in spending, however, mostly reflects higher prices rather than more travel. The total number of domestic trips fell 3.6% year on year to about 16.47 million in April-June, made by some 13.55 million residents.
Spending per trip above 9,400 lira
Average spending per trip was 9,413 lira. Of the total, about 134.7 billion lira (86.9%) was personal spending, while package tours accounted for around 20.3 billion lira (13.1%).
Food and drink was the largest spending item with a 31.6% share, followed by transport at 25% and accommodation at 14.5%. Spending on food and drink rose 39.1% compared with a year earlier, transport 28.3% and accommodation 22.5%. With annual inflation still close to 30%, much of this increase reflects higher prices.
Travellers spent about 85.9 million nights away from home, an average of 5.2 nights per trip.
Most trips are family visits
Visiting friends and relatives remained by far the main reason for domestic travel, accounting for 60.1% of trips. Leisure, recreation and holidays made up 33.6%, and health-related travel 2.3%.
This pattern is reflected in where people stayed. Friends’ and relatives’ homes accounted for about 61.2 million nights, compared with roughly 11.4 million nights in hotels and 8.2 million in travellers’ own second homes, such as summer houses on the coast.
Context for visitors and property owners
Domestic tourists are an important source of demand for coastal resorts and city hotels, particularly in shoulder seasons when foreign arrivals slow. Hotel operators on the Aegean have already reported weaker autumn occupancy, and sector employment data recently showed tourism jobs falling.
The high number of nights spent in owned second homes also highlights the role of holiday property in Turkish domestic tourism. Foreigners considering a holiday home can compare popular regions in our guide on where to buy property in Turkey.
TÜİK publishes domestic tourism figures quarterly, alongside separate data on foreign visitors and tourism income.
Sources
Photo: Alev Takil / Unsplash License, via Unsplash
