Australia and More Countries to Exhibit at Istanbul Tourism Fair 2026 Targeting 17,000 Travel Professionals

Written By: Tuhin Sarkar

Tuhin Sarkar

Tuhin Sarkar is a Senior Journalist at Travel and Tour World with more than 10 years of experience in travel and tourism journalism. A post-graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Jadavpur University, he combines strong research, industry knowledge and storytelling expertise to produce engaging, insightful and impactful travel news and fascinating feature stories.

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August 31, 2026 8:02 PM |

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The Istanbul Tourism Fair 2026 is preparing to turn Istanbul into a major travel and tourism business hub on 24–25 September, with 345 participating companies and more than 17,000 tourism professionals expected at the Yenikapı Eurasia Show and Art Center. The fourth edition will use 10,000 square metres of exhibition space and combine international business meetings, hosted buyers, destination promotion and industry discussions. The scale is significant because the fair is moving beyond a domestic tourism gathering and strengthening its international ambitions. At the same time, its Tourism Summit will feature 83 national and international speakers across 17 key industry subjects.

Istanbul Tourism Fair 2026 will take place on 24–25 September 2026 at the Yenikapı Eurasia Show and Art Center, bringing together 345 exhibitors across 10,000 square metres and more than 17,000 national and international tourism professionals.

The event is organised by Dream Project and is designed primarily as a professional B2B travel and tourism marketplace, connecting hotels, travel agencies, tour operators, destinations, airlines, cruise businesses, technology companies, MICE operators and other tourism suppliers with buyers and industry representatives.

Istanbul Tourism Fair 2026 arrives with bigger ambitions

The fourth edition of the Istanbul Tourism Fair is positioning itself as one of Türkiye’s increasingly important travel and tourism trade gatherings, with organisers targeting continued growth and a stronger international profile. The fair will occupy 10,000 square metres and host 345 participating companies, while organisers expect more than 17,000 tourism professionals from Türkiye and international markets to attend across the two-day event.

The expansion is notable when compared with the previous edition, which hosted 314 exhibiting companies and around 16,500 professional visitors, according to industry reporting. The 2026 exhibitor target therefore represents an increase of about 10%, while visitor expectations also point to another year of growth for the travel and tourism marketplace.

The organisers have also made a much larger global ambition clear, aiming for the Istanbul Tourism Fair to become one of the world’s three leading tourism fairs within five years. That goal puts the event into a more competitive international landscape, where major travel trade shows compete for exhibitors, hosted buyers, destinations, tourism brands and decision-makers from multiple continents.

345 exhibitors will span the travel industry

The 345-exhibitor target covers a broad cross-section of the travel and tourism economy rather than a single segment of the industry. The official exhibitor and visitor profile includes hotels, travel agencies, tour operators, incoming and outgoing operators, DMCs, incentive companies, countries, convention bureaux, destination promotion offices, municipalities, chambers of commerce, airlines, tourism transport companies, car rental businesses, meeting-support companies, technology providers, yacht and cruise companies, marinas, health tourism businesses, sports tourism companies and MICE specialists.

This wide exhibitor structure gives the fair a particularly strong B2B character because buyers can meet several parts of the tourism supply chain in one location. For hotels and destinations, the event offers an opportunity to develop distribution relationships, while travel agencies, tour operators and DMCs can search for products, suppliers and partnerships that can be converted into future travel programmes.

However, there is an important distinction regarding the 2026 exhibitor list. The organiser has publicly confirmed the target of 345 participating companies, but a final, verified company-by-company 2026 exhibitor directory and an official country-by-country exhibitor breakdown are not yet publicly available in the sources reviewed for this report.

That means previously published company names should not automatically be described as confirmed 2026 exhibitors. The safer editorial position is to identify the 345 figure as the organiser’s announced 2026 participation target while noting that the final exhibitor directory may continue to develop before the fair opens.

Which countries are exhibiting?

The international character of the Istanbul Tourism Fair is becoming increasingly visible, but the available evidence needs to be interpreted carefully. The organiser’s international programme is targeting travel agencies, tour operators, DMCs, MICE companies and other tourism buyers from a wide range of global source markets, but these buyer markets should not be confused with countries confirmed to have national exhibition stands.

Research connected with ITF involved tourism professionals from 150 countries, highlighting the broad international market being targeted by the organisers. Industry reporting says the research included leading tour operators, online channels, DMCs, MICE businesses and travel agencies, with the results indicating strong international commercial interest in Türkiye.

The 2026 international buyer strategy is therefore more significant than simply counting national pavilions. The programme is designed to bring overseas demand directly into the Istanbul travel and tourism marketplace, allowing Turkish and international exhibitors to establish commercial relationships with companies that can generate future visitor flows.

For editorial purposes, it is therefore more accurate to say that Istanbul Tourism Fair 2026 is targeting international buyers across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and other global source markets, rather than claiming that all those countries are confirmed exhibitors.

More than 17,000 tourism professionals expected

Visitor expectations are one of the strongest indicators of the fair’s expanding scale. The organiser and several Turkish industry sources state that more than 17,000 national and international tourism professionals are expected to attend the 2026 edition.

A recent Tourism Week report places the projection even higher, saying that more than 18,000 industry professionals could attend, compared with approximately 16,500 visitors at the 2025 edition. Because the organiser’s own communications consistently use the 17,000-plus figure, that is the most conservative number for a publish-ready report.

The event is not positioned as a conventional consumer travel exhibition. The official FAQ states that the Istanbul Tourism Fair is exclusively open to tourism professionals, meaning the audience is focused on industry participants rather than general holidaymakers looking for consumer travel deals.

That distinction matters because 17,000 professional visitors can have a different commercial impact from an equivalent number of general visitors. Travel trade professionals can influence hotel contracting, tour packages, destination distribution, corporate travel, MICE programmes and international tourism sales.

Hosted buyers could drive major B2B deals

The hosted-buyer programme is another central component of ITF 2026. Organisers are bringing together international outgoing agencies, DMCs and tour operators, creating opportunities for exhibitors to hold targeted B2B meetings with companies that can potentially distribute Turkish and international travel products.

Visitors can also arrange meetings with exhibitors through the fair’s appointment system, giving the event a structured business-development element rather than relying entirely on spontaneous networking. This approach is particularly relevant to travel companies because meetings can be organised around specific sectors, companies and commercial interests before participants arrive.

The 2025 edition provides evidence of the scale of this business model, with industry reporting citing 7,500 B2B meetings and 450 international buyers from 50 countries. For 2026, the organisers are expanding the platform as they seek to make ITF a stronger international travel and tourism marketplace.

Tourism Summit adds another major attraction

The exhibition will run alongside the Tourism Summit, adding an industry intelligence component to the commercial programme. The 2026 summit is expected to feature 83 national and international speakers across 17 subjects, covering topics linked to the performance of the 2026 tourism season and expectations for 2027.

The programme is expected to examine subjects including the CIS market, Egypt, MICE, luxury tourism and wider travel trends, while a headline discussion will address destination positioning and long-term tourism strategy. This gives the event relevance not only to exhibitors seeking business but also to executives tracking changes in international demand and the future direction of tourism markets.

Why Istanbul matters to global tourism

Istanbul provides a strategic setting for the event because the city sits at the intersection of European, Middle Eastern and Asian travel markets. Its established aviation network, hospitality infrastructure, cultural attractions and position as a major international gateway give the Istanbul Tourism Fair a natural platform for connecting Turkish tourism suppliers with overseas buyers.

The wider objective is also commercially important for Türkiye, which is seeking to strengthen its position in international travel markets while developing higher-value tourism products. Research presented ahead of ITF indicated that major global tourism companies are monitoring Türkiye, with particular interest in accommodation, luxury travel and destination-based products.

Suggested comment from Anup Kumar Keshan, Editor-in-Chief, Travel And Tour World

The combination of 345 exhibitors, 17,000-plus professionals, 10,000 square metres and 83 summit speakers gives the Istanbul Tourism Fair a substantial platform for the 2026 travel calendar. More importantly, its emphasis on hosted buyers and scheduled B2B meetings makes the event commercially focused, which could increase its importance for companies seeking partnerships rather than simply visibility.

The organisers’ five-year ambition to place ITF among the world’s top three tourism fairs is ambitious, but the 2026 edition demonstrates the direction of travel. Continued exhibitor growth, stronger international buyer participation and an expanding conference programme could help Istanbul establish itself as an increasingly important meeting point for the international tourism business.

For travel agencies, hotels, airlines, destinations, cruise operators, DMCs, MICE companies and tourism technology businesses, the September event therefore represents more than another industry gathering. It is designed as a marketplace where travel products can meet buyers, tourism businesses can establish partnerships and industry leaders can debate the trends likely to influence the next tourism season

The main reason behind the growing importance of the Istanbul Tourism Fair 2026 is the changing structure of global travel and tourism, where businesses increasingly depend on international partnerships, specialised buyers and direct B2B relationships. The answer is a larger professional marketplace capable of connecting destinations, hotels, agencies, airlines, cruise companies, DMCs and technology providers in one location. With 345 exhibitors, more than 17,000 expected professionals and an international hosted-buyer programme, ITF is designed to create those connections at scale. The reason this matters is simple: stronger commercial networks can generate new travel products, partnerships, visitor flows and tourism investment opportunities across markets.

The Istanbul Tourism Fair 2026 is set to become one of Türkiye’s most closely watched travel and tourism trade events when it opens at the Yenikapı Eurasia Show and Art Center on 24–25 September. With 345 exhibitors, 10,000 square metres of exhibition space and more than 17,000 expected tourism professionals, the fourth edition is clearly larger and more internationally focused than previous years.

Its biggest strength could be the combination of exhibition space, hosted buyers, scheduled B2B meetings and the Tourism Summit. At the same time, the organisers are targeting international travel markets and seeking to build ITF into a globally recognised tourism marketplace. The final 2026 country-by-country exhibitor list, however, should be confirmed separately once the organiser publishes its definitive directory. For now, the confirmed figures point to a growing event with significant potential to influence travel partnerships, tourism sales and Türkiye’s international industry profile.