Foreigner visits to Turkey soar in July

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA

The number of foreigners visiting Turkey rose more than 46 percent year-on-year in July, the Tourism Ministry revealed Friday.

The data showed that more than 5 million foreign visitors entered the country over the course of the month.

The Mediterranean resort city of Antalya and scenic Istanbul saw the highest number of visitors, nearly 1.8 million and over 1.3 million, respectively.

Germans made up almost 15 percent of foreign visitors, followed by Russians at around 13 percent, and British citizens at nearly 8 percent.

In the first seven months of the year, the number of foreigners visiting Turkey totaled over 17.3 million, up almost 22 percent compared to the same period last year, the ministry said.