Falling Profits Cloud Horizons for Turkey’s Booming Tourist Industry

Turkey continues to draw millions of holidaymakers to its beaches, resorts and historic sites, but beneath the headline visitor numbers, the country’s tourism industry is showing signs of strain. After a record year, Turkey entered 2026 with high hopes, having hosted nearly 64 million visitors and generated 65.23 billion US dollars in tourism revenue in 2025, up 2.7 and 6.8 per cent respectively compared to 2024, and ranking fourth globally for international tourist arrivals. However, official figures show that visitor numbers actually fell 5.1 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, while tourism revenue dropped 2.6 per cent to 15.87 billion US dollars. Meanwhile, industry data cited by Turizm News showed average hotel occupancy falling from 40.17 per cent in the first half of 2025 to 36.80 per cent in the same period this year. Subscribe to Balkan Insight Premium to read the full article. Please login to your account below if you are already a Premium Subscriber. Buy Premium Subscription Our Premium Service gives you full access to all content published on BalkanInsight.com, including analyses, investigations, comments, interviews and more. Choose your subscription today and get unparalleled in-depth coverage of the Southern and Eastern Europe. Buy Premium Subscription If you have trouble logging in or any other questions regarding you account, please contact us