July 2025 brought an unexpectedly significant decline in tourist arrivals to Turkey, recording a 5% drop compared to the previous year (from 7,333,812 to 6,969,546 foreign tourists), which was the most significant minus of the summer season and the post-pandemic period. Against the backdrop of this general decline, there were important changes in the structure of key markets: in July, Germany overtook Russia, taking first place with 981,005 tourists, despite its own decline in flow by 5.3%. Russia, which fell to second place with 953,733 arrivals, showed the largest increase among all key markets in the TOP-5 (+3.4% compared to July 2024). Despite this monthly reshuffle, Russia retains its leading position in overall tourist flow to Turkey for the first seven months of 2025 (January-July), although the total number of arrivals is still lower than in the same period of 2024. It is noteworthy that tourist flow from Russia to Antalya has grown more significantly than to other regions of Turkey. The July TOP-5 also included the United Kingdom (down 9.6%), Poland (up 2.8%) and, unexpectedly, the Netherlands (down 0.4%), whose appearance on this list for the first time in a long time indicates a sharp drop in tourist flow from Iran, which traditionally occupied the fifth line.
Tourist flow from Iran fell by 18.9% year-on-year, and from the United States by 21.9%, which was one of the most noticeable declines. Overall, the total July tourist flow from countries outside the TOP-5 decreased by 6.9%, and such large markets as Romania, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, France, Belgium, Austria, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan also showed a decline. Against the backdrop of these data, discussions arose about the “atypicality” of Russia’s second place in tourist flow to Turkey in July, immediately after Germany. However, an analysis of statistics for the past four years completely refutes this statement: Germany traditionally leads in July, and Russia consistently occupies the second position. For example, in July 2024, 2023 and 2022, an identical picture was observed, which makes the current ranking quite typical for the summer peak season.
In July, Russia significantly strengthened its position in the Turkish tourism market, becoming one of the few “large” markets that showed growth. The total number of trips by Russians to Turkey reached 953,733, which means an increase of 3.4%. The lion's share of this growth was accounted for by the beach province of Antalya, which received 64.8% of all Russian tourists (618,395 visits) and also demonstrated a similar increase of 3.4%. The coincidence of these figures clearly indicates that the dynamics of tourist flow in other regions of Turkey was significantly weaker. For example, the province of Mugla (resorts of the Aegean coast) showed only a slight increase of 0.9%, having received 79,045 Russian citizens, while for Istanbul, based on the available data, one can expect either last year's figures or a slight decline.
Tourist flow from Iran fell by 18.9% year-on-year, and from the United States by 21.9%, which was one of the most noticeable declines. Overall, the total July tourist flow from countries outside the TOP-5 decreased by 6.9%, and such large markets as Romania, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, France, Belgium, Austria, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan also showed a decline. Against the backdrop of these data, discussions arose about the “atypicality” of Russia’s second place in tourist flow to Turkey in July, immediately after Germany. However, an analysis of statistics for the past four years completely refutes this statement: Germany traditionally leads in July, and Russia consistently occupies the second position. For example, in July 2024, 2023 and 2022, an identical picture was observed, which makes the current ranking quite typical for the summer peak season.
In July, Russia significantly strengthened its position in the Turkish tourism market, becoming one of the few “large” markets that showed growth. The total number of trips by Russians to Turkey reached 953,733, which means an increase of 3.4%. The lion's share of this growth was accounted for by the beach province of Antalya, which received 64.8% of all Russian tourists (618,395 visits) and also demonstrated a similar increase of 3.4%. The coincidence of these figures clearly indicates that the dynamics of tourist flow in other regions of Turkey was significantly weaker. For example, the province of Mugla (resorts of the Aegean coast) showed only a slight increase of 0.9%, having received 79,045 Russian citizens, while for Istanbul, based on the available data, one can expect either last year's figures or a slight decline.
