The number of tourists visiting Istanbul increased by 13 percent.

According to the data of the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, 2 million 273 thousand 860 foreign tourists visited the city in the 2 months of this year. Istanbul, which received 956 thousand 482 foreign visitors in February last year, hosted 1 million 84 thousand 33 foreigners with an increase of 13 percent this February.

In February, 1 million 80 thousand 227 people reached the city by air and 3 thousand 806 people by sea. Compared to last year, those arriving in Istanbul by air increased by 13 percent, while those arriving by sea increased by 16 percent.

Istanbul Airport is popular with tourists

1131 people from Atatürk Airport, 307 thousand 187 people from Sabiha Gökçen Airport and 771 thousand 909 people from Istanbul Airport entered Istanbul in February.

1856 foreign visitors came to the city from Tuzla Port, 1018 from Zeytinburnu Port, 274 from Ambarlı Port, 596 from Haydarpaşa Port, 54 from Pendik Port and 8 from Marmara Port.

While 71.21 percent of the visitors to the city used Istanbul Airport, 28.34 percent preferred Sabiha Gökçen International Airport.

Russians in first place in February

Among the foreign visitors who came to Istanbul in February, the Russians took the first place with 149 thousand 906 people.

Russia is followed by Germany with 76 thousand 601 tourists, Iran with 58 thousand 976 tourists, France with 42 thousand 240 tourists, England with 39 thousand 587 tourists, the USA with 33 thousand 196 tourists, Israel with 29 thousand 920 tourists, Uzbekistan with 26 thousand 202 tourists, and 25 thousand 184 tourists. Iraq was followed by the Netherlands with 23 thousand 66 tourists.

Russians 13.83 percent, Germans 7.07 percent, Iranians 5.44 percent, French 3.90 percent, British 3.65 percent, and 3.06 percent of those who visited Istanbul in February Americans made up the majority of the population, and Israelis made up 2.76 percent.

1 person from Solomon Islands visited

While tourists from 193 countries came to Istanbul in February, one each from the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and two each from Bhutan, Laos and East Timor.

984 thousand 689 foreign tourists came to Istanbul in February 2019 and 962 thousand 151 foreign tourists in the same period of 2020. In February 2021, the number of tourists coming to the city was 350 thousand 913.