TORONTO — Türkiye is seeing continued momentum from the Canadian market, with arrivals up 8.6% in the first half of 2026 as the destination welcomed 25.8 million international visitors overall.

Canadian visitors totalled 137,695 between January and June, according to figures announced by Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Türkiye’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, at a press conference last month.

Overall international arrivals were down from 26.4 million in the first half of 2025. However, tourism revenue remained at last year’s level at US$25.8 billion.

According to Minister Ersoy, regional tensions in the Middle East and global uncertainties have impacted tourism demand in the first half of 2026. 

“Although Türkiye was not involved in the conflict and all our airlines and airports continued to operate without disruption, the closure of Middle Eastern airspace led to a slight decline in demand,” he said. 

“In the first six months of 2025, we hosted 26.4 million visitors. During the same period in the current year, we welcomed 25.8 million visitors. We have commenced the second half of the year strongly, and our current projections suggest a markedly improved performance for the remainder of the year.”

Türkiye’s average stay increased 0.5% to 10.01 nights while spending per night rose 2.6% to US$109.

The Russian Federation remained Türkiye’s largest source market with 2.65 million visitors, followed by Germany with 2.44 million and the UK with 1.58 million.

Minister Ersoy said Türkiye has started the second half of the year strongly and current projections point to improved tourism performance for the remainder of 2026.

Lead image caption: Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Türkiye’s Minister of Culture and Tourism