The number of international visitors to Turkey surged 14.5% year-on-year to 40.7 million in January-October period, said the country's Culture and Tourism Ministry on Friday.

The Mediterranean resort city of Antalya saw the highest figure, with 14.1 million in the first 10 months.

Istanbul, Turkey's largest city by population and a top tourist draw, was the number two destination, drawing 12.7 million foreign visitors.

Russian tourists topped the list with 6.7 million, marking a 16.94% increase. They were followed by Germans with 4.6 million, and U.K. with 2.4 million, marking over 11% increase.

In October, 4.3 million foreign visitors came to Turkey, up 14.3% year-on-year.

Turkey welcomed more than 21.6 million visitors in the third quarter, a 15% rise on a yearly basis – 85.3% foreign and 14.7% Turkish citizens living abroad.

The country's earnings from tourism also rose in the first two quarters of the year, by 4.6% in Q1 and 13.2% in Q2.

Last year, some 39.5 million foreigners entered Turkey, up from 32.4 million in 2017. According to U.N. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) 2019 data, Turkey ranks sixth in the world in terms of the number of tourists and 14th in terms of tourism income.

Tourism is a major source of income for Turkey. Tourists in 2018 brought in some $29.5 billion, according to official data.

The new tourism strategy targets over 75 million tourists and $65 billion in tourism revenue by 2023, the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Turkish Republic. The figures were revised from 50 million tourists and $50 billion in tourism income.