1 in 10 tourists in Turkey is Iranian

 

Turkey's revenue from Iranian tourists: 2.4 billion dollars

According to Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in the first two months of 2024 a total of 4 million and 341 thousand foreign tourists entered this country, of whom 438 thousand were Iranian citizens. A simple look at these statistics and figures shows that in this period, of every 10 foreign tourists in Turkey, 1 person was Iranian. News of Iranians traveling and touring Turkey may not be new or surprising, but if we look at this subject from two slightly more hidden angles, the situation becomes different.

First, given that every year a huge wave of Iranians traveling to Turkey is expected to begin at Nowruz (March), it is likely that in March as well Iranians will repeat this ranking by an even greater margin than in the first two months of 2024. Also, a look at reports of recent years on Turkey's tourists indicates that this reception by Iranian tourists and their departure toward Turkey in the first two months of the new Gregorian year has been unprecedented.

But you may also ask what the main point is and what is to be pursued in what follows with this kind of data and figures. Briefly, it must be said that as successfully and ambitiously as Turkey's economy benefits from Iranians' interest in travel, Iran itself has not been able to benefit from this development.

Are Iranians people who travel?

Travel has a special place among the people of Iran, and Iranians can be considered a people interested in travel. A look at Iranians' mythic stories also shows that travel has always been bound up with this people's destiny. From Ferdowsi's account of Rostam on the journey and the legendary hero of Iran passing through the Seven Labors, to the seafaring of the people of this land on turbulent waters, all show that the fate of Iran's people has been bound to travel and that they have traveled into the eye of the wind. A look at Iranians' domestic tourism statistics shows that 20 million domestic trips took place in 1400 (2021/22). Among these, Iran's most tourist-receiving province, Mazandaran province with more than 2 million travelers was Iran's top tourism province, and Tehran with 1.8 million travelers ranks next.

 

 

But why do we say that the people of Iran are a people interested in travel and are travelers? Undoubtedly, before comparing the volume and pattern of Iranians' travel with leading neighboring and regional countries such as Turkey, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, several fundamental differences must be noted. Over the past several years the people of Iran (especially the middle and lower classes), for financial and livelihood reasons whose main root is in the particular situation arising from sanctions, have seen a reduction in the number of their trips. Shortage of infrastructure and facilities is also another strong reason that cannot simply be passed over.

For example, it may be interesting that only 0.5 percent of travelers in Iran in 1400 (2021/22) traveled by train. This is while a country such as Turkey, in addition to improving conditions for attracting tourists, has also developed its transportation system. For instance, the airline "Turkish Airlines" in 2022 stood in first place among Europe's best airlines and seventeenth in the world.

 

 

 

Comparing tourism in Iran and Turkey: inbound tourism

Now given the issues raised, a comparison of Iran's domestic tourism with Turkey (Iran's population is 1.2 million people larger than Turkey's and the populations of the two countries can be assumed to be almost the same) shows that the people of Turkey in 2021 had 52.8 million domestic trips. But the big difference is that Turkey, in addition to having a larger number of domestic tourists than Iran, has been able well and by a large margin to earn revenue from inbound tourism and foreign tourists.

 

 

 

 

 

Turkey's tourism revenue: inbound tourism

Turkey's revenue from inbound tourism in 2023, with 17 percent growth relative to 2022, reached 54.3 billion dollars. The Turks, with policymaking and a coherent plan from 2003 - except for the years of the COVID-19 pandemic - have been able every year to create income stability in tourism and bring themselves into the ranks of the world's most tourist-oriented countries. Turkey in 2003 had 13.8 billion dollars in revenue from inbound tourism and now aims, by the end of 2024, by attracting 60 million foreign tourists to Turkey, to reach 60 billion dollars in revenue. A goal that, given the two-month performance of Turkey's tourism industry, is not only not out of reach, but may even surpass this target.

The policy of maintaining extensive and interest-seeking relations with neighbors has found a special relationship with Turkey's tourism. For example, in the first two months of 2024, because of the Turkish government's positions toward the Zionist regime and the Gaza war - with all its caveats - Turkey witnessed a sharp decline in the arrival of Israeli tourists to Turkey. Such that the number of inbound tourists to Turkey, compared with the same period of 2023, fell from 81 thousand people to fewer than 9 thousand people.

But instead Turkey expanded its relations with Arab countries of the Persian Gulf such as Saudi Arabia and replaced tourists from the Zionist regime with Saudi tourists. In the first two months of this year, the number of inbound tourists from Saudi Arabia to Turkey, with a 61 percent increase, has reached 83 thousand people.

 

Does Turkey count on Iranian tourists?

Turkey's annual number of tourists in 2023 was more than 57 million foreign tourists. As stated, Turkey's tourism revenue brought in the amount of 54.3 billion dollars. In 2023 more than 10.33 million German citizens entered Turkey and accounted for the most travel to this country. This is while after Germany, Russia with 6.29 million tourists, the United Kingdom with 4.26 million tourists, Bulgaria with 2.86 million tourists and Iran with 2.49 million tourists stand in second through fifth places.

 

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council's report on Iran's tourism industry in 2022 and the statistics on Iranians' travel to Turkey, this country, by attracting 63 percent of outbound travelers and tourists from Iran, stands in first place by a margin above Iraq (13 percent) and the United Arab Emirates (11 percent).

 

Turkey's tourism revenue from Iranians' travel to Turkey

Here an important question that arises is how much Turkey's tourism revenue from Iranians' travel is. As stated, Turkey's inbound tourism revenue in 2023 was 54,315,542 billion dollars, and this revenue was obtained from the arrival of 57,077,440 million foreign tourists. Now if we calculate the average spending of each tourist in Turkey (951.6 dollars) and multiply it by the number of Iranian tourists in Turkey (2,496,593), it becomes clear that Iranians in 2023 spent 2.37 billion dollars in Turkey.

 

 

Conclusion

Iranians have always been among the special customers of Turkey's tourism. The Turkish government too, by planning and providing suitable tourism infrastructure in Turkey, has been able to increase its chances of attracting Iranian tourists day by day. At Nowruz 1403 (2024/25) too, a huge crowd of Iran's citizens set out for Turkey. Because in the very first days of the Nowruz holidays, the Central Headquarters for Coordinating Travel Services, given congestion at the Bazargan border, asked Iranian travelers, tourists and overland tours to use alternative borders for passenger traffic to Turkey. With this state of affairs, and looking at the statistics on Iranians' travel to Turkey from its hidden and less-noticed angles, it indicates that Turkey's tourism industry is counting specially on Iranian tourists.