Sharp drop in GCC tourists to Turkey in March

Tourist numbers from four GCC countries travelling to Turkey saw a massive drop in March due to the regional conflict, which led to airspace closures.

The UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait each registered an almost 80 percent fall in March, data released by the Culture and Tourism Ministry showed.

However, Saudi Arabia was an exception, growing 24 percent year-on-year. 

Overall, the number of foreigners arriving in Turkey rose by 5 percent year-on-year to 2.5 million in March.

Turkey received 6.8 million foreigners in the first three months of 2026, with January recording a 3.5 percent increase and February a 2 percent decline.

Germans topped the list, followed by Russia, Bulgaria, Iran and the UK during the first quarter. 

Combined with overseas Turkish citizens, visitor numbers reached 9.2 million in the quarter, up by more than 4 percent over the first quarter of 2025. Turkish expatriate arrivals surged 11 percent between January and March.

Tourism revenues rose more than 4 percent annually to $10 billion in the first quarter, culture and tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said in a post on X.

“If there had been no effects of the war, we would have seen strong double-digit growth in March,” he said.

Tourism revenues increased by 7 percent year-on-year to $65 billion in 2025. The ministry has set a $68 billion target for tourism revenue for this year.