Mehmet Nuri Ersoy's statement on '200 thousand reservation cancellations'

During a period of tension between India and Pakistan that escalated into a heated conflict, Turkey 's support for Pakistan was met with backlash in India , leading to boycott campaigns against Turkey . These campaigns proved successful, and the number of Indian visitors to Turkey declined. According to the data, the number of Indian tourists, which stood at 220,000 in the first eight months of last year, fell by 21 percent to 173,000 in the same period this year.

If the possible increase rate is also calculated...

While the loss appears to be 47,000, when the likely increase (20%) is factored in, the actual loss appears to be closer to 100,000. However, this figure is still well below the 200,000 figure mentioned.

Ministry: Our most loyal followers are Indians

According to a report by Evrin Güvendik from Milliyet, data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism revealed that Turkey 's most loyal social media followers are Indians. Turkey's global tourism promotion platform, GoTürkiye, has been running special advertising campaigns for India on its social media accounts, generating 73 impressions and 11 million interactions. India also leads GoTürkiye's Instagram followers with 545,413 followers.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced that 26.4 million tourists arrived in the first six months of 2025, with tourism revenue reaching $25.8 billion, a 7.6 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Ersoy also noted that average per capita spending by international visitors increased by 8 percent to $106.

Ersoy: The allegations are false

Responding to claims of Indian tourist reservation cancellations, Ersoy stated that the number of Indian citizens entering Turkey in 2024 was 330,985, and that this number rose to 155,459 in the first six months of 2025. Ersoy stated, “While there has been a decrease in the number of Indian citizens visiting our country in the first six months of 2025 compared to the first six months of 2024, claims that 200,000 Indians have canceled their reservations for Turkey are far from reality. Such claims are based on disinformation and do not align with official data.”

'Our target is Asia-Pacific'

Minister of Culture and Tourism Ersoy, noting that Asia-Pacific countries are among the strategic target markets for tourism, said, "The aim is to keep interest in Türkiye from Asian markets alive, increase visitor volume from alternative markets, and position Türkiye as a popular destination in these regions."