Roughly 1.17 million Romanian tourists visited Turkey between January and December 2024, an increase of 18.52% compared to 2023 (990,005), according to data from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Overall, the same source said, 2024 has been Turkey's most successful year in tourism.

By the end of 2024, Turkey also hosted 329,796 tourists from the Republic of Moldova, 14.36% more than in 2023 (288,377).

Overall, Turkey achieved a 9.8% year-on-year growth in its visitor numbers and hosted almost 62.27 million visitors in 2024, representing a 20.3% growth compared to 2019, the pre-pandemic year. With this figure, it also surpassed its targets of 60 million visitors, which it announced earlier in 2024, and 61 million visitors, which it renewed last October. 

In addition, Turkey generated USD 61.1 billion in tourism revenue, which is 8.3% more than the previous year.

"Overall, 2024 has been Turkey's most successful year in tourism," reads the press release. 

Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia have remained Turkey's biggest source markets, while emerging markets such as the Americas, India, and China showed significant growth in 2024. 

While Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom remained Turkey's top three biggest source markets, the growth in the number of visitors from emerging markets was 8.1% for the USA, 65.1% for China, and 20.7% for India.

Turkey's international visitors spent an average of 10.7 days in the country, and the revenue per visitor was USD 972. 

According to UN Tourism, Turkey was among the world's top five most visited destinations in 2023.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: PR)