Avenues of Türkiye’s metropolis continue to be swarmed by foreign holidaymakers, an influx that has helped wash away any traces from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
Driven by arrivals from Russia, the number of foreigners arriving in Istanbul in October jumped 37% year-over-year to 1.58 million, according to provincial culture and tourism directorate data.
The data meant the city left the same periods of even years before the pandemic way behind. The October arrivals in 2018 and 2019 stood at 1.23 million and 1.35 million, respectively.
The pandemic slashed the number to just 533,405 in 2020, before a rebound to some 1.15 million in October last year, according to official data.
Foreign arrivals in the first 10 months of this year have jumped to a total of 13.37 million, the directorate said.
The arrivals have been mainly backed by Russian visitors who have been hit by flight restrictions applied by Western countries after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In addition, the rebound this year has also been driven by a major leap in demand from Europe, spearheaded by Germany and the United Kingdom.
Some 185,339 Russian citizens arrived in Istanbul in October, followed by 116,219 tourists from Germany, 94,579 from Iran, 72,428 from the United States and 62,510 from Britain, according to the data
Russians made up 11.7% of the foreigners visiting Istanbul in October, Germans 7.33%, Iranians 5.97%, the U.S. 4.57%, and the U.K. 3.94%.
In October, Istanbul hosted tourists from 194 countries. Only one person each from Tonga and the Solomon Islands, and two people from Nauru and Macao came to the city.
