By Daily Sabah News

Istanbul hosted 13.4 million foreign tourists in 2018, according to the tourism statistics report prepared by the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism. German visitors topped the list of foreign visitors at more than 1 million.

Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism prepared the Istanbul Tourism Statistics Report for 2018 taking into consideration the number of foreign tourists who entered the country via Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen airports and the Haydarpaşa, Pendik, Tuzla, Zeytinburnu, Ambarlı and Karaköy ports.

According to the information compiled from the report, a total of 13.4 million foreign tourists came to Istanbul in 2018, up by 24 percent compared to 2017 when a total of 10.8 million foreign visitors arrived in the city.

In December alone, a total of more than 1 million foreign tourists visited Istanbul, marking a 21.3 percent increase compared to the same month in 2017.

According to statistics, a total of 13.3 million tourists came to Istanbul by air in 2018, with a 23.9 percent rise compared to 2017 when a total of 10.8 million foreign visitors entered the city