Turkey’s biggest metropolis is seeing an influx of visitors as most coronavirus restrictions have been lifted, with crowd levels on par with those recorded prior to the outbreak.
Straddling Europe and Asia, Istanbul has witnessed the number of foreign tourists more than double in the first quarter of the year, as the crucial sector continues to recover from the impact of measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 since 2020.
"There is no room left at hotels in Istanbul," said Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) head Şekib Avdagiç.
"According to the current reservations, you will not be able to find a place in hotels in Istanbul in May. Many hotels are already full, and the total occupancy rate has reached 98%, Avdagiç told reporters on the sidelines of a fair in Paris.
"We see this interest continuing for June and July as well."
Foreign arrivals in Istanbul surged 135% year-over-year from January through March to over 2.9 million, according to data from the provincial culture and tourism directorate. The figure was up from 1.23 million in the same period a year ago.
The industry is worried about the potential impact of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which is expected to hit the arrivals from Turkey’s top tourist sources.
Russians topped the list among nations in the metropolis with nearly 257,099 tourists arriving from the nation in the first three months, a 36.8% year-over-year increase.
Arrivals from the United Kingdom soared by 700% year-over-year to 106,596, the data showed, up from just 13,309 in the first quarter last year.
Russians were followed by Iranians with 253,000, an increase of 113% year-over-year.
The number of tourists from Germany jumped 164% to 225,000, the data showed, while arrivals from France were up over 187% to 110,000, compared to 38,000 a year ago.
The occupancy rate at hotels in the metropolis had reached 92% in March, dubbed the dead season, Avdagiç said, stressing that such a rate was not seen even before the outbreak of the pandemic.
The total foreign arrivals in Istanbul climbed 80% year-over-year to 9 million in 2021, versus just over 5 million in 2020.
The data Avdagiç said they obtained envisages the arrival of at least 250,000 tourists from Saudi Arabia.
His remarks come as Ankara and Riyadh are entering a new era of relations after intense efforts to repair strained ties after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan late last month paid the first high-level visit to Saudi Arabia in years.