The influx in July has seen foreign arrivals in Istanbul reach the highest monthly level in a decade, official data showed on Monday.

The Turkish metropolis welcomed around 1.87 million tourists last month, a 6% surge from a year ago, the provincial culture and tourism directorate said.

The figure surpasses the earlier peak of nearly 1.76 million tourists who arrived in the same month of 2022, the data showed.

Some 1.67 million foreigners visited Istanbul in July of 2019, dubbed the golden year for the country’s tourism. The figure plunged to just 301,930 in 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic halted worldwide travel before rebounding to 1.13 million a year later.

This year’s momentum has been driven by an influx of holidaymakers from Europe, particularly Germany and the United Kingdom, besides arrivals from Russia, mainly due to flight restrictions imposed by Western nations over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Visitors from Russia (185,636), Germany (135,568) and Saudi Arabia (nearly 135,100) topped the list of foreigners who visited Istanbul in July.

Among others, arrivals from the United States (105,041), Iran (97,352), France (69,263) and the U.K. (over 69,000) also gained momentum.

From January through July, Istanbul hosted nearly 9.78 million foreigners, a 15% increase from over 8.5 million in the first seven months of last year.

The figure accounts for almost a third of 26.77 million tourists who arrived in Türkiye in the seven-month period, which marked a 16.2% year-over-year jump, according to the Culture and Tourism Ministry data.

Some 7.15 million arrived in July alone, surging 7.25% from a year earlier, an all-time high for the month. It compared with 6.66 million foreign visitors in July 2022.

Tourism is a critical source of revenue for Türkiye as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government focus on reducing the current account deficit to tackle stubborn inflation.

Last year’s complete rebound from the pandemic fallout saw the number of tourists near a record, generating all-time high revenues and prompting the government to raise its annual estimates.

The government sees foreign arrivals reaching 60 million this year, which it estimates will hit 90 million in 2028.

For the income, it sees it rising to $56 billion this year and $100 billion five years from now. The revenues surged 27% year-over-year to $21.7 billion in the first six months of this year.

Arrivals surged 80.33% to 44.6 million in 2022, just shy of the peak of 45.1 million in 2019.

Income climbed 53.4% to a record high of nearly $46.3 billion as the lingering effects of the pandemic dissipated and Russian arrivals rocketed after Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Tourism contributes about 10% to Türkiye’s gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, around 1.7 million people worked in accommodation and food services in 2022 – about 5% of total employment.