The world's most visited city in 2023 has been revealed! Two Turkish cities are on the list

In December, Euromonitor International published its Top 100 City Destinations list for 2023. The report compared cities using 55 different metrics across six categories, including tourism infrastructure, health and safety, sustainability, tourism performance, and more. Istanbul ranked first as the city that attracted the most international tourists in 2023.

Here are the top 10 cities for international travelers in 2023:

10- Mecca

9- Cancún

8- New York

7- Bangkok

6- Hong Kong

5- Paris

4- Antalya

3- Dubai

2- London

1- Istanbul

According to Euromonitor International data, the 26 percent increase in the number of tourists in Istanbul shows that the city, which is among the 100 most visited cities in the world, has surpassed London and Dubai compared to the previous year.

In fourth place is Antalya, which the BBC described as an "unsung hero." Antalya, one of Turkey's popular holiday destinations, hosted 12 times its population in tourists in 2023. The city, which hosted 16.5 million tourists last year, was visited most by Germans, Russians, and the British. With a 29 percent increase in the number of tourists, the number of visitors is expected to rise further in 2024.

Travel writer Stacey Leasca, who penned the BBC article, stated regarding Antalya: "It led Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, to once say, 'There is no doubt that Antalya is the most beautiful place in the world.'"

A return to pre-pandemic levels is clearly being experienced. According to the BBC report, there has been a significant increase in the number of tourists traveling abroad with the easing of pandemic-era and post-pandemic restrictions. An increase was also observed in domestic and international flights across Turkey. Compared to 2022, there was a 16.3 percent increase in flights in 2023.

Photo: Samet SAĞLAM