site.btaEuromonitor International: Istanbul and Antalya Rank in Top Five of World's 100 Most Visited Cities

Market research company Euromonitor International ranked two of Turkiye's most popular cities Istanbul and Antalya in the top five of the world's most visited 100 cities.

According to Euromonitor International, the number of tourists visiting Istanbul in just one year (2023) increased by 26% year-on-year.

By this indicator, Istanbul, the megalopolis ranked 5th, has surpassed Dubai and London, the company added.

Antalya, which is referred to by some as the "pearl of Turkish tourism", is ranked fourth.

Antalya is one of Turkiye's popular holiday and tourism destinations in the Eastern Mediterranean region. In 2023, it was visited by 16.5 million tourists, 12 times more than its permanent population. The top three foreign tourists who visited Antalya last year were from Russia, Germany and the UK.

Antalya has achieved a 29% growth in tourism in 2023, the Antalya Culture and Tourism Directorate, which participated with a separate stand at the EMITT international tourism exhibition held last week in Istanbul, told BTA. Preliminary requests for 2024 indicate that the number of tourists visiting Antalya will significantly exceed the current figure.

According to Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry data released at EMITT-Istanbul, in 2023 Turkiye was visited by 56.7 million tourists and earned USD 56 billion in revenue.