Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has unveiled the tourism data for the third quarter of the year. Minister Ersoy stated, “We have revised our year-end visitor target to 61 million people.” In the first 9 months, we achieved revenue of 46.9 billion dollars.” Minister Ersoy also disclosed that the average length of stay for the first 9 months was 10.6 nights, with per capita nightly expenditure reaching 107 dollars in the same period. The figure for the first 9 months of 2023 was 101 dollars. According to TÜİK data, tourism revenue in the third quarter consisting of July, August, and September increased by 3.9% compared to the same quarter of the previous year, reaching 23,219,751,000 dollars.

14.7% of tourism revenue was generated by foreign resident citizens visiting Turkey. Personal expenditures accounted for 15,077,957,000 dollars, while package tour expenditures amounted to 8,141,794,000 dollars in this quarter. THE NUMBER OF VISITORS INCREASED BY 3.5% COMPARED TO THE SAME QUARTER LAST YEAR The number of visitors leaving Turkey increased by 3.5% in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, reaching 23,206,579 people. 12.2% of these visitors were foreign resident citizens, totaling 2,835,074 people. The average nightly spending by visitors leaving Turkey in this quarter was 95 dollars, while foreign resident citizens spent an average of 62 dollars per night.

In the July-September period, package tour expenditures accounted for 35.1% of tourism revenue, food and beverage expenses were 17.9%, and international transportation expenses were 10.9%. While package tour expenditures increased by 18% compared to the same period last year, food and beverage expenditures decreased by 2.2%, and international transportation expenses saw a 7.6% decline.

Visitors came to Turkey mainly for “sightseeing, entertainment, sports, and cultural activities” with a share of 71.6%. In second place was “visiting relatives and friends” with 19.4%, and in third place was “shopping” with 4%. Foreign resident citizens mostly visited the country for “visiting relatives and friends” with a share of 69.6%. TOURISM EXPENDITURE DECREASED BY 22.5% Tourism expenditure resulting from the expenses of citizens residing in the country and visiting other countries decreased by 22.5% in the third quarter of the year compared to the same quarter of the previous year, amounting to 1,874,216,000 dollars. Personal expenses accounted for 1,517,780,000 dollars, while package tour expenditures accounted for 356,436,000 dollars. The number of citizens visiting abroad in the same period increased by 10.3% annually, reaching 3,286,105 people, with an average expenditure per person of 570 dollars.