New York - August 22, 2022: Americans are streaming to Türkiye in unprecedented numbers according to figures released today by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. While tourism worldwide plummeted in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of Americans visiting Türkiye in the first half of 2022 is up 76.8% over the same period of 2019 before the pandemic struck.

“This is an extraordinary and exciting result,” says Yalçın Lokmanhekim, the General Manager of TGA, Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, underscoring not only Turkish tourism’s recovery from the pandemic, but also highlighting how Americans are vacationing in Türkiye in record-breaking numbers. 

Number one destination in Türkiye for Americans is the city of Istanbul, with phenomenal interest in discovering other parts of this country that spans both Europe and Asia. After Istanbul, Americans’ favorite destinations currently include the Turkish Aegean coast, the city of Izmir, and the unique landscapes of Cappadocia in the east of the country.

213,000 Americans visited Türkiye in January through June 2019, with 377,000 in the same period of 2022.