İstanbul receives 16 percent more tourists last year

Istanbul continued to be a tourism hot spot in 2011 as Turkey's largest metropolis saw 8 million foreign tourists, a 16 percent rise over the preceding year, the latest data reveal.

Istanbul continued to be a tourism hot spot in 2011 as Turkey's largest metropolis saw 8 million foreign tourists, a 16 percent rise over the preceding year, the latest data reveal.

According to figures provided by the Istanbul Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate on Thursday, 1.09 million more people flocked to see Istanbul last year over 2010. The city attracted 6.97 million foreign visitors in 2010, when it was one of three European Capital of Culture cities. Germany sent the highest number of tourists to Istanbul in 2011, followed by Russia, the US, Italy and France.

The directorate said in a written statement the city “left a successful year in tourism behind,” despite financial and political fluctuations in surrounding regions. The statement lauded the efforts of local administrations to contribute to Istanbul's tourism potential. Regarding the year ahead, the directorate said it expects the city to maintain its success in increasing its appeal to visitors from all around the world.

Serving visitors with two large airports, one on the European side and another on the Asian side of the city, Istanbul, with a population of 12 million, received the highest number of tourists in July of last year, at 916,486, whereas January saw the lowest number of tourists at 378,380.

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