Türkiye’s tourism revenues rose 5% year-on-year to $25.53 billion in the third quarter, with revenues in the first nine months increasing 2.4% to $51.29 billion, Turkish Statistical Institute data showed on Friday.
Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said Türkiye was on track to generate more than $65 billion in full-year tourism revenues.
"Longer-than-expected average stays and higher overnight spending have boosted tourism revenues," Ersoy told a news conference on the sector's performance in the first nine months of the year.
The number of visitors fell 1% year-on-year to 23.37 million in the third quarter, while total arrivals reached 49.13 million in the January-September period, the data showed.
Separately, data from the Tourism Ministry showed that the number of foreign visitors rose 0.4% year-on-year to 6.11 million in September. However, foreign arrivals fell 1.52% to 40.93 million in the first nine months of the year.
Russians accounted for the largest group of foreign visitors in September, with 979,647 arrivals, followed by visitors from Germany, Britain, Iran and Poland.
Average overnight spending per visitor declined 1.3% year-on-year to $723 in the third quarter. For the first nine months, it fell 9.6% to $778.
Ersoy said average visitor stays continued to exceed expectations, but warned of risks to the sector in the final quarter, including a possible escalation of the Iran war, as well as an increase in drone attacks on cities amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
In 2025, revenues increased by 6.8% from the previous year to a record $65.2 billion, according to official data. Before the Iran war began, the government's target for this year was $68 billion.
Lower revenues could add to Türkiye's current account deficit, which is already under pressure from soaring energy prices due to the fallout from the Iran war.
The war has hurt demand for travel to Türkiye's historic sites and Mediterranean beaches.
