Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy unveiled the third quarter tourism data. Minister Ersoy stated, “We will revise our year-end visitor target to 61 million.” In the first 9 months, we reached a revenue of 46.9 billion dollars.” Minister Ersoy also disclosed that the average length of stay in the first 9 months was 10.6 nights, and the per capita nightly expenditure reached 107 dollars in the same period. This figure was 101 dollars for the first 9 months of 2023. According to TUIK 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 obtained from foreign resident citizens visiting Turkey. Personal expenses accounted for 15,077,957,000 dollars in this quarter, while package tour expenses amounted to 8,141,794,000 dollars.

NUMBER OF VISITORS INCREASED BY 3.5% COMPARED TO THE SAME QUARTER OF 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. 2,835,074 residents in foreign countries accounted for 12.2% of these visitors. The average nightly spending of visitors leaving Turkey in this quarter was 95 dollars, while residents from abroad spent an average of 62 dollars per night. In the period of July-September, package tour expenses accounted for 35.1% of tourism revenue, food and beverage expenses accounted for 17.9%, and international transportation expenses accounted for 10.9%. While package tour expenses increased by 18% compared to the same period last year, food and beverage expenses decreased by 2.2%, and international transportation expenses decreased by 7.6%. Visitors came to Turkey for “sightseeing, entertainment, sports, and cultural activities” the most, with 71.6%. Second was “visiting relatives and friends” with 19.4%, and third was “shopping” with 4%. Foreign resident citizens came to the country mostly for “visiting relatives and friends,” accounting for 69.6%. TOURISM EXPENDITURE DECREASED BY 22.5% Tourism expenditure, consisting of expenses of citizens residing in the country and visiting other countries, decreased by 22.5% in the third quarter of this year compared to the same quarter of last year, amounting to 1,874,216,000 dollars. Personal expenses accounted for 1,517,780,000 dollars, while package tour expenses accounted for 356,436,000 dollars. During the same period, the number of citizens visiting foreign countries increased by 10.3% annually, reaching 3,286,105 people with an average expenditure of 570 dollars per person.