Despite decline in tourist arrivals to Turkey’s popular summer destination of Antalya, the country’s biggest and most populous city of Istanbul continues the upward trend in tourist arrivals. Recently named as the world’s most popular 5th destination at MasterCardGlobal Destinations Cities Index , Istanbul welcomed more than 4.5 million foreign tourists in the first 5 months of 2015.
Istanbul Culture and Tourism Directorate announced 9.4 percent increase in the number of tourists visiting the city in May 2015 compare to May 2014. Total arrivals from January to May increased by 6.9 percent.
| ISTANBUL | Change in % compare to 2014( Monthly ) | Change in % compare to 2014( Cumulative ) | ||
| 2014 | 2015 | |||
| January | 635.283 | 691.496 | 8,8 | 8,8 |
| February | 696.054 | 732.202 | 5,2 | 6,9 |
| March | 866.985 | 944.931 | 9,0 | 7,7 |
| April | 1.014.662 | 1.037.506 | 2,3 | 6,0 |
| May | 1.079.598 | 1.182.906 | 9,6 | 6,9 |
| Total | 4.292.5852 | 4.589.041 | ||
| Top 50 nationals visiting Istanbul in January – May 2015 | ||
| 1 | Germany | 471.733 |
| 2 | Iran | 252.941 |
| 3 | Russian Fed. | 208.660 |
| 4 | USA | 186.941 |
| 5 | UK | 183.938 |
| 6 | France | 174.826 |
| 7 | Saudi Arabia | 136.691 |
| 8 | Italy | 133.945 |
| 9 | The Netherlands | 117.962 |
| 10 | IRaq | 110.226 |
| 11 | Ukraine | 108.326 |
| 12 | Libya | 103.395 |
| 13 | Syria | 97.894 |
| 14 | S. Korea | 96.144 |
| 15 | China | 98.621 |
| 16 | Azerbaijan | 90.266 |
| 17 | Sweden | 76.898 |
| 18 | Spain | 74.108 |
| 19 | Austria | 62.171 |
| 20 | Kazakhstan | 61.492 |
| 21 | Kuwait | 61.144 |
| 22 | Turkmenistan | 59.544 |
| 23 | Algeria | 58.898 |
| 24 | Switzerland | 58.855 |
| 25 | Greece | 54.786 |
| 26 | Belgium | 53.655 |
| 27 | Uzbekhstan | 52.119 |
| 28 | Australia | 51.064 |
| 29 | Lebanon | 48.422 |
| 30 | Romania | 44.567 |
| 31 | India | 43.226 |
| 32 | TRNC | 42.848 |
| 33 | Canada | 42.500 |
| 34 | Denmark | 42.358 |
| 35 | Tunisia | 41.674 |
| 36 | Japan | 40.317 |
| 37 | Egypt | 37.953 |
| 38 | Jordan | 36.716 |
| 39 | Morocco | 36.637 |
| 40 | Kyrgyzstan | 34.274 |
| 41 | Israel | 33.793 |
| 42 | Bulgaria | 33.239 |
| 43 | Malaysia | 29.858 |
| 44 | Georgia | 27.443 |
| 45 | Brazil | 26.552 |
| 46 | Poland | 23.915 |
| 47 | Indonesia | 22.809 |
| 48 | Norway | 22.793 |
| 49 | Argentina | 22.238 |
| 50 | Serbia | 21.522 |
| 51 | Hungary | 20.442 |
| 52 | Kosovo | 19.990 |
| 53 | Finland | 19.969 |
| 54 | UAE | 19.532 |
| 55 | Pakistan | 18.714 |
| 56 | Czech Rep. | 17.130 |
| 57 | Moldova | 16.915 |
| 58 | Bosnia & Herz. | 16.777 |
| 59 | Taiwan | 15.903 |
| 60 | Albania | 15.649 |
| 61 | The Phillippines | 14.759 |
| 62 | Qatar | 13.937 |
| 63 | Ireland | 13.921 |
| 64 | Portugal | 13.741 |
| 65 | S. Africa | 13.673 |
| 66 | Bahrain | 12.841 |
| 67 | Statelessness | 12.489 |
| 68 | Croatia | 12.421 |
| 69 | Tacikhstan | 12.192 |
| 70 | Belarus | 11.275 |
| 71 | Macedonia | 11.168 |
| 72 | Thailand | 10.969 |
| 73 | Slovenia | 9.812 |
| 74 | Nigeria | 9.616 |
| 75 | Lithuania | 9.445 |
| 76 | Yemen | 9.218 |
| 77 | Mexico | 9.169 |
| 78 | Slovakia | 8.640 |
| 79 | New Zealand | 8.289 |
| 80 | Singapore | 7.851 |
| 81 | Latvia | 7.389 |
| 82 | Colombia | 6.948 |
| 83 | HongKong | 6.786 |
| 84 | Chile | 6.433 |
| 85 | Amman | 6.407 |
| 86 | Afganistan | 6.258 |
| 87 | Estonia | 5.909 |
| 88 | Armenia | 5.813 |
| 89 | Montenegro | 5.608 |
| 90 | Bangladesh | 4.602 |
| 91 | Mongolia | 4.588 |
| 92 | Sudan | 4.316 |
| 93 | Palestine | 4.095 |
| 94 | Yugoslavia | 2.731 |
| 95 | Kenya | 2.571 |
| 96 | Malta | 2.388 |
| 97 | Congo | 2.363 |
| 98 | Camerun | 2.294 |
| 99 | Cyprus | 2.143 |
| 100 | Senegal | 2.007 |
