In January-November 2018, 1.894 million Iranian tourists visited Turkey, which is 18.17 percent less than in the same period of 2017, the Ministry told Trend on Friday.

The share of Iranian citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey during the eleven months of 2018 was 5.05 percent, the ministry said.

In November 2018, 105,200 tourists from Iran visited Turkey, which is 46.39 percent less than in the same month of 2017, the ministry noted.

“The share of Iranian citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in November 2018 accounted to 5.35 percent. For comparison, this figure was 11.88 percent in November 2017,” the ministry added.

In January-November 2018, 37.5 million tourists visited Turkey, which is 22.25 percent more than in January-November 2017, the ministry noted.

The main reason behind the significant drop in the number of Iranian tourists visiting Turkey is Rial depreciation in the country which happened in the summer as a result of US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. The increasing rate of foreign currencies automatically led to a significant increase in the prices of plane tickets and accommodation.

On the other hand, the fall in Iran’s national currency value has attracted a new wave of visitors from neighboring countries, particularly Iraq. According to recent figures, the arrival of foreign tourists to Iran has had a 45% increase in a five-month period compared to last year.