The tourist flow from Russia to Antalya province in the off-season has been falling for the second year in a row. Last year – by 19.4%, this year – by 20.1% year on year. But in 2025, the situation is different – in Antalya, during the off-season, both the tourist flow from Europe and Iran sharply decreased, unlike last year, when these markets were growing rapidly, and Russia was the "black sheep".
In March 2025, the Russian tourist flow to Antalya decreased by 11%, but this is not the worst result.
According to the Antalya Department of Culture and Tourism, 365,784 tourists from abroad arrived in this province of Turkey in March 2025 (321,593 foreigners and 44,191 Turkish citizens permanently residing abroad). This is 27.7 percent less than in the same period last year (506 thousand).
As for the number of foreign tourists (excluding Turks living abroad), the year-on-year decrease in foreign tourist flow was -29.6%. Moreover, the number of visits to Antalya decreased for all the TOP 5 countries - the key suppliers of tourists.
The five countries that sent the largest number of tourists to Antalya in March 2025:
- Germany: 98,000 visits. Dynamics: a 46.2% drop compared to March 2024 (then there were 182 thousand visits).
- United Kingdom: 58,564 visits. This is 15.4% less than in March 2024 (69,237).
- Russia: 58,193 visits. This is 11.1% less than in March 2024 (64,467).
Iranians in Antalya took the fourth place with 15,511 visits (a drop of 37%), Poland took the fifth place (more than 14,000 visits), and in March it also had -1% compared to last year's figures.
There is a general drop in the tourist flow to Antalya in March: the trend of the last few years, when the number of foreign arrivals to this province grew during the off-season, has reversed this year. However, alarm bells were already ringing in January and February.
As for the tourist flow from Russia to Antalya in March, it has been falling for the second year in a row. Last March, the drop was -19.2% year-on-year. This is 11.1%.
There are two reasons. The first is that the classic organized tourist flow is not growing, or is growing at a slow pace. During the off-season, Russian tourists have quite a lot of beach alternatives with warm sea, and at attractive prices.
The second reason concerns independent tourists: many of them traveled to Antalya in 22-24 years for shopping or even for commercial business, including real estate. Against the background of a multiple increase in prices for goods and services in Turkey, shopping, purchasing and purchasing real estate in many cases have become unprofitable.
And basically, according to the experts interviewed by the editorial board, it is this group that accounts for a significant, if not the main, part of the "shortage" of Russian arrivals in Antalya.
According to the same Department of Culture and Tourism of Antalya, in the first quarter of 2025, the number of tourists from Turkey permanently residing outside the country increased by 9% (from 147 thousand to 161,17 thousand).
But the total number of foreign tourists (excluding Turkish citizens living abroad) who arrived at the resorts of the province in the first 3 months of 2025 amounted to 694,254. And this is 20% less than in the same period last year (more than 858 thousand). Moreover, all of the key markets showed a decline in the first quarter, except Poland.
TOP 5 leading entry markets of Antalya in the first quarter of 2025 (January – March):
- Germany: 187,627 visits in January-March. A 32.9% drop in tourist traffic compared to the same period in 2024 (279,803 visits).
- Russia: 137,166 visits in January-March. The decrease in tourist traffic in the first quarter was -20.1% compared to the same period in 2024 (171,770). Recall that in January 2025, the tourist flow from Russia to Antalya fell by 25% year–on–year, by 26.5% in February, and by 11.1% in March.
- United Kingdom: 114,096 visits in January-March. The decrease in tourist traffic by 8.5% compared to the same period in 2024 (124,621).
The only country that has demonstrated a slight increase in the tourist flow to Antalya in the first 3 months of 2025 is Poland. 37,487 people arrived from there in January-March (+7% compared to the same period in 2024).
Iran (5th place) has the most serious drop: -40% compared to the first quarter of last year. The tourist flow has dropped from more than 30 thousand visits last year to 18 thousand.
It is significant that from countries outside the TOP 5, a drop in the volume of tourist traffic to Antalya is also recorded by the results of the first quarter for almost everyone. Thus, Kazakhstan has -1%, Ukraine -4.8%, the Netherlands -3%, Austria -8%, Belgium -25%, France -3%, Switzerland -9.7% less, Denmark -35%, Kyrgyzstan -1%, Norway -4.5%, Sweden -17%. And only Romania has +0.3%.
This is reminiscent of a reversal of the trend of Europeans' preferences in the off-season. Recall that in the first quarter of last year, Antalya recorded an unprecedented influx of tourists from Europe, and then Russia was the only key market that had decreased in volume.
Most likely, the reason is the sharply increased prices (not only for hotels, but for everything in Turkey), observers believe.
Tourist flow from Russia to Antalya, the first quarter of 2024 and 2025.
The experts of the Russian tourism industry interviewed by the editorial office emphasize that based on the results of the off-season, it is not worth making forecasts for the summer season in Turkey.
So, after the negative dynamics of the winter season last year, summer sales of tours in Antalya showed a good increase. As a result, the tourist flow from Russia to Antalya resorts in 2024 amounted to 3,909,960 trips, which is 12.9% more than in 2023.
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