Türkiye's tourism revenues jumped by 8.4% in the second quarter of the year, continuing a positive momentum from the first three months to bring the total income from the key sector to nearly $26 billion in the first half of the year, official data showed on Thursday.
From April to June, tourism income came in at close to $16.3 billion, up 8.4% from the year ago, the data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) revealed. At the same time, the number of departing visitors increased by 2% compared to the same quarter of the previous year to 16.4 million, TurkStat said.
In six months of 2025, total revenues reached some $25.78 billion, marking the highest-recorded revenue for the half year ever, according to officials. The figure was up 7.6% from the same period in 2024, the data showed.
Announcing the figures, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy hailed the increase in revenues and per capita nightly revenue, despite what he described as "very challenging" first six months.
"As you know, it was a very challenging and risky six months. It was a period marked by many global challenges, especially those unfolding within 'a ring of fire' around us. These factors were bound to impact the figures. However, thanks to the measures taken, we see that the data is positive compared to last year," Ersoy told the event in Istanbul.
He cited several impacts, including the earthquake in Istanbul that coincided with the Easter holiday, the India-Pakistan conflict, which came short afterward, in addition to global risks.
"Furthermore, we encountered a global climate shift, a process we've been increasingly aware of for several years. If you've noticed, due to this global climate shift, we didn't reach seasonal temperatures until June 15 this year. This is actually an indicator of a shift. A similar situation occurred last year. We expect September, October and November to be above seasonal norms, and we anticipate higher bookings during those periods," he explained.
Moreover, he also pointed to concerns that came amid the escalation of tensions between Israel and Iran, which included fears of potential nuclear fallout. "This negatively impacted not only existing reservations but also future booking flows," Ersoy said.
"Last year's first six months' revenue was $24 billion. This year's first six months' revenue reached $25.8 billion," he informed.
"Second-quarter revenue, which was $15 billion last year, rose to $16.3 billion this year," he added.
"Our year-end target is to increase from $61.1 billion last year to $64 billion. We are targeting a 4.7% revenue increase," the minister also said.
"However, when we look at the first six months, we achieved a 7.6% revenue rise. The significant surge in per capita nightly revenue and the above-expected average length of stay positively impacted total revenue. In the first six months, we achieved the highest six-month tourism revenue in the history of the republic with $25.8 billion."
Tourism is one of the key sectors of the Turkish economy, contributing significantly to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
Commenting on the data, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said that tourism revenue "reached an annual $62.9 billion in the second quarter of 2025, with the number of visitors reaching 62.7 million."
"Despite the tensions in our region, tourism continues to maintain its strong performance," he said in a post on X.
"The tourism sector, which supports our goal of a sustainable current account balance, continues to strengthen our economy," he added.
