A total of 66 million 836 thousand domestic trips were made across Türkiye in 2024, reflecting an 8.7% increase compared to the previous year, according to data released Tuesday by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

In the fourth quarter of the year — covering October through December — 9.5 million residents took domestic trips, slightly down by 0.4% year-on-year. These trips totaled 11.5 million individual travel events, with a cumulative 76.6 million overnight stays, averaging 6.7 nights per trip.

For the entire year, total overnights reached 484.1 million, up 2.3% from 2023, with an average of 7.2 nights per trip.

Sharp Rise in Domestic Tourism Expenditures

Domestic tourism spending reached record highs in 2024, soaring by 82.5% year-on-year to ₺419.3 billion. Of this amount, ₺369.3 billion (88.1%) came from individual expenditures, while ₺50 billion (11.9%) were spent on package tours.

In the fourth quarter alone, trip expenditures rose by 44.4% to ₺66 billion, with an average expenditure of ₺5,759 per trip. Annual average expenditure per trip was ₺6,274.

Food, Transport, and Lodging Dominate Spending

Eating and drinking accounted for the largest share of spending in Q4 at 33.8%, followed by transportation (27.7%) and accommodation (12.1%). Compared to the same quarter in 2023, expenditures in these categories rose 61.4%, 33.6%, and 50.3%, respectively.

For the full year, food and beverage remained the top expenditure category with 31.8%, followed by transportation at 24.3% and accommodation at 16.7%. These categories saw annual increases of 81%, 68.7%, and 78.8%, respectively.

Visiting Relatives Still Top Travel Reason

The primary reason for domestic trips remained "visiting relatives," accounting for 63.1% of trips in Q4 and 57.2% annually. The second most common purpose was leisure and vacation travel (25.6% in Q4, 35.3% annually), followed by health-related travel (6.5% in Q4, 3.7% annually).

Friends and Family Homes Top Accommodation Choice

Turkish travelers continued to favor staying with loved ones. In Q4, 53.3 million overnights were spent at the homes of friends or relatives, followed by 13.3 million nights in travelers’ own houses, and 5.2 million in hotels.

For the year, the same trend held: 328.9 million overnight stays took place at relatives’ homes, 77.9 million in personal homes, and 44.5 million in hotels. (ILKHA)