Turkish Ports Receive Record Number of Cruise Passengers Last Month

According to the minister, 16 cruise ships docked at Turkish ports last month, a 220 percent annual increase, bringing a total of 29,826 passengers.

“In January, Turkish ports also received record number of cruise ships. Breaking records for two consecutive months shows that Türkiye has become a strong destination in cruise tourism,” Uraloğlu said in a statement.

Last month, Kuşadası hosted seven cruise ships with 10,656 passengers, Istanbul welcomed four cruise ships with 9,743 passengers, İzmir’s Alsancak Port received four cruise ships with 8,484 passengers, and Port Akdeniz in Antalya hosted one cruise ship with 943 passengers, he said.

A total of 39 cruise ships and 62,512 passengers arrived at Turkish ports in the first two months of the year.

Ports in Istanbul were the busiest in January-February, receiving 12 cruise ships with 24,257 passengers, according to Uraloğlu.

The Alsancak port in İzmir came second with eight ships and 16,485 passengers, followed by the port of Kuşadası with eight ships and 11,559 visitors.

After the opening of the Galataport in Istanbul and the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, Türkiye has become one of the key destinations for cruise tourism, said Uraloğlu.

“In 2024, our ports hosted 1,195 cruise ships with 1.89 million passengers. This is the highest number of passengers recorded since 2015. We are expecting a new record in 2025, with the number of passengers exceeding 2 million,” he said.

Source: HDN