Istanbul welcomes 10.4 mln foreign tourists in 7 months

The number of foreign tourists visiting Istanbul reached almost 10.5 million in the first seven months this year, marking a 7 percent increase from the same period last year.

The figure stood at 9.7 million in the first seven months of last year, while this year it increased by 690,678 million and reached 10.4, data from the provincial directorate of culture and tourism said.

In July, the number of foreign visitors increased by about 2 percent, rising from 1.8 million last year to 1.9 million this year.

Russians made up the largest percentage of international visitors to Istanbul in July, with a total of 192,018 visiting the province. Out of 195 countries, Germany came in second with 153,861 visitors and the U.S. came in third with 114,412 visitors.

A total of 108,983 visitors came from Saudi Arabia, followed by Iran with 101,146. England comes after Iran with 84,542 visitors, followed by another European city, France, with 71,506 visitors.

A total of 51,292 tourists from Uzbekistan visited the province in July, while 47,661 tourists arrived from the Netherlands. Iraq accounted for 44,314 of the foreign tourists visiting the province, with Italy following the Middle Eastern country with 42,517 travelers.

Russians made up 10.8 percent of those who traveled to Istanbul in July, followed by Germans with 8.8 percent, Americans with 6.1, Saudi Arabians with 5.72 and Iranians with 5.31.