Türkiye Hosts Over 25 Million International Visitors In 1st Half, Canadians Up 8.6%
by Bruce Parkinson
Turkish Airlines is making family travel more affordable.
In the first 6 months of 2026, Türkiye hosted 25.8 million international visitors – compared with 26.4 million last year — and took in US$25.8 billion in tourism revenues, similar to the results for the same period in 2025.
Canadian visitors were a bright spot, totalling 137,695 between January and June 2026, an 8.6% increase compared with the period in 2025.
“Regional tensions in the Middle East and global uncertainties have impacted tourism demand in the first half of 2026,” said Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Türkiye’s Minister of Culture and Tourism.
“Although Türkiye was not involved in the conflict and all our airlines and airports continued to operate without disruption, the closure of Middle Eastern airspace led to a slight decline in demand. We have commenced the second half of the year strongly, and our current projections suggest a markedly improved performance for the remainder of the year.”
Despite the dip in arrivals, Türkiye was happy to report that revenues remained consistent with 2025. Türkiye’s average stay increased by 0.5% to 10.01 nights, and spending per night increased by 2.6% to US$109. Türkiye’s three biggest source markets remained the same: the Russian Federation (2.65M), Germany (2.44M), and the UK (1.58M).
