August 2026 became the strongest summer month for Russian tourist traffic to Turkey, with 1,052,211 Russian visits — up 6.2% from August 2025. For the first eight months of the year, Russia remains Turkey’s largest inbound market and the only country in the top five with positive dynamics.
Turkey’s top five inbound markets in August 2026 were:
- Russia: 1,052,211 visits, +6.2% year on year
- Germany: 982,353 visits, −0.8%
- United Kingdom: 590,898 visits, −7.5%
- Iran: 381,495 visits, +15.1%
- Poland: 324,295 visits, −0.4%
Arrivals from all countries outside the top five fell 1.5%. Turkey’s overall August foreign tourist flow managed to match last year’s result mainly due to growth in the largest market, Russia, which added about 61,000 tourists, and a recovery in arrivals from Iran, which added about 50,000. European markets continued to stagnate, while the British market contracted noticeably.
Russian demand grew steadily over the summer: June saw 906,138 Russian visits (+2.1% year on year), July saw 1,020,186 (+6.9%), and August reached 1,052,211 (+6.2%).
Antalya remained the leading destination for Russian travelers. In August 2026, the province received 675,396 Russian visitors, up 7.6% year on year. This accounted for 64.2% of all Russian visits to Turkey and 27.3% of all foreign arrivals to Antalya, putting Russia in first place.
Muğla, on the Aegean coast, recorded 90,888 Russian arrivals, up 10.8%, with an 8.6% share of total Russian visits to Turkey.
Istanbul accounted for about 213,000 Russian visits in August, or 20.2% of the Russian total, according to ATOR’s Analytical Service. The figure includes transit to third countries, and preliminary annual growth was +7%.
A further 70,000 Russians arrived through other checkpoints, including Mersin, Adana, Ankara and Izmir, land borders with Georgia and Bulgaria, and cruise calls at Turkish ports.
