Ports surpass 2 million cruise passengers in 10 months
ISTANBUL
Türkiye has set a new record in cruise tourism, surpassing 2 million passengers in the first ten months of the year.
The number of cruise ships arriving at Turkish ports between January and October rose by 14.9 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 1,278, Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Minister Uraloğlu announced.
Passenger numbers also increased by 14.4 percent, climbing to 2.02 million.
Uraloğlu emphasized that cruise tourism is “sailing towards a record,” noting that the 2 million passenger target set for 2025 has already been exceeded within just ten months.
In October alone, the number of cruise ships docking at Turkish ports rose by 4.1 percent year-on-year to 203, while passenger numbers grew by 5.1 percent to 310,872.
Kuşadası Port welcomed 89 cruise ships carrying 138,801 passengers, Istanbul ports received 35 ships with 89,144 passengers and Bodrum Port hosted 17 ships with 17,692 passengers. Other ports accounted for 62 ships and 65,235 passengers.
For the January-October period, Kuşadası Port remained the leading destination, hosting 582 cruise ships and 964,448 passengers. Istanbul ports followed with 242 ships and 584,330 passengers, while Bodrum Port ranked third with 113 ships and 135,677 passengers.
