Karachi: Türkiye achieved a 9.8% year-on-year growth in its visitor numbers and hosted 62.269.890 visitors in 2024, representing a 20.3% growth compared to 2019, the pre-pandemic year. The total number includes over 135,000 Pakistani tourists. With this figure, Türkiye also surpassed its own target of 60 million visitors, announced earlier in 2024. In addition, Türkiye generated 61.1 billion USD as tourism revenue, which is 8.3% more than the previous year. Overall, 2024 has been Türkiye’s most successful year in tourism.
Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia have remained Türkiye’s biggest source markets while emerging markets such as the Americas, India, and China showed great growth in 2024. While Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom remained Türkiye’s top three biggest source markets, the growth in the number of visitors from emerging markets was 8.1% for the USA, and a phenomenal 65.1% for China.
Türkiye’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, Türkiye ranks among the world’s top five most visited destinations in 2023.
Many Pakistanis also participated in the Istanbul Marathon, renowned as the world’s only intercontinental race, starting on the Asian side of Istanbul and ending on the European side. In the 46th edition of the Istanbul Marathon held in November 2024, out of approximately 7,500 runners in the main Marathon, Amjad Ali of Pakistan achieved the remarkable feat of finishing in 47th position, completing the 42-kilometre race in 2 hours, 49 minutes, and 29 seconds.
