It is reported that the number of Iranian tourists visiting Istanbul has increased in recent years. Experts say this may be partly due to the economic improvement Iran has witnessed after related sanctions against Iran have been lifted by the western world. Reports show the number of guests from this country could even surpass German tourists visiting Turkey.
Turkey’s tourism sector which is also in the recovery process has been receiving an increasing number of visitors from Iran who fill Turkish shopping centers in specific.
The good part for Iranians wishing to visit Turkey is they are exempted from visa requirements for travel periods of up to 90 days in Turkey and this certainly has turned out to be a motivating factor for them, so far.
Reports based on data from the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism show that 386,339 Iranians visited Istanbul in 2013, while the number grew in the following years to 590,920 in 2014 and 755,707 in 2015. As for the current year (2017) 337,259 Iranian tourists have visited Istanbul so far.
The number of Iranian tourists ranked seventh among visitors from all other countries visiting Istanbul in 2013, but today they rank second after Germans, in this regard.
The odds are the number of visitors from this country could soon surpass the number of visitors from Germany as Iran has a big population of 80 million people who cannot easily visit other countries as compared to Turkey. And what is good about Turkey is that Iranians come to Turkey on a more regular basis that is 12 months of the year.
On the other hand, it is also reported that an average Iranian family spends approximately US$ 3,500 whilst their stay in Turkey which ends up to be a major contribution to the Turkish economy at the end of the day.
