Local tourism industry closely watching Israel-Iran conflict

ISTANBUL

Türkiye’s tourism industry, which hosted more than 3 million visitors from Iran and Israel last year, is closely watching the conflict between the two countries for its potential impact on this summer season and beyond.

In 2024, 3.28 million Iranians visited Türkiye, accounting for 5.2 percent of all foreign tourist arrivals.

In the first four months of 2025, Türkiye hosted nearly 950,000 Iranian tourists, which constituted the third-largest group of foreign visitors, after Germans and Russians.

Local media reported this week that due to the closure of airspace following missile attacks between Israel and Iran, Iranians living in Istanbul are traveling to their country by bus. As the demand increased, coach companies have added extra trips to Iran.

“Before, there was a high influx of Iranians coming to Türkiye. Now, it is the other way around, they are returning to their country because of the war,” a bus driver said.

Last year, some 770,000 Israelis came to Türkiye, an 89 percent decline from 2023, according to data from the Turkish Tourism Ministry.

Most of the visits by Israeli travelers took place during the summer season.

In the January-April period of 2025, tourist arrivals from Israel surged more than 50 percent from a year ago to around 30,000.