Turkish sprawling metropolis Istanbul, one of the most visited cities in the world, broke an all-time record in the number of foreign tourists with nearly 17.4 million individuals arriving in 2023, according to the official data shared Tuesday.
The Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate said some 17.37 million visited the vibrant city straddling Europe and Asia throughout last year, indicating an 8.44% increase compared to the same period a year earlier.
Leading the list of arrivals to the city were visitors from Russia with 1.99 million, followed by arrivals from Germany with 1.28 million, while Iran came in third with 1.05 million.
Adding to the momentum, besides the top three countries whose tourist counts surpassed the 1 million figure were notable arrivals from the United States (853,766), the United Kingdom (701,361), Saudi Arabia (604,509) and France (589,149).
Türkiye welcomed around 49.2 million foreign tourists in 2023, a year…
