In February this year, before the war, Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy reported a total of 64 million visitors to Turkey in 2025, generating a historic $56.5 billion dollars in tourism revenue.
Since February 28, the situation has changed dramatically, with uncertainty reigning among tour operators. Thus, already in mid-March, “travel from eastern and southeastern neighboring countries has completely stopped,” Euronews quoted Onur Tuncdemir, head of sales and marketing at Ayanis Tour, as quoted by Deutsche Welle.
Iran and Iraq used to be important markets for travelers to Turkey, he said, and “in recent weeks we have only been dealing with cancellations and refunds of deposits already taken.”
According to Turkey’s statistics office TÜIK, up to 3.3 million Iranians traveled to Turkey annually in recent years. Now this flow of tourists has dried up.
Bodrum, Antalya and Istanbul remain stable
At the same time, some cities in Turkey are not recording significant cancellations, says Kaan Kavaloglu, chairman of the Association of Mediterranean Hoteliers (AKTOB). Bodrum, Istanbul and Antalya are considered relatively safe, bookings by German tourists for these destinations remain stable.
The website of the German Federal Foreign Office emphasizes that the worsening situation in the Middle East may affect countries “that have not yet been directly involved in the conflict”.
The Turkish Riviera is still considered safe, but citizens are advised to refrain from non-essential travel to some areas bordering Iran, Iraq and Syria.
Turkey: Germans’ favorite holiday destination
According to the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), Spain was the most popular among European air travel destinations in summer 2025 (10.5 million passengers). Turkey ranked second with 7.7 million travelers from Germany.
The German Tourist Association reports that Turkey was the most popular summer vacation destination between May and October, both in terms of sales and bookings.
Current data from the German travel market shows that in March 2026 the number of bookings for package tours fell by 16% and demand for the Eastern Mediterranean, which includes Turkey, dropped significantly.
