The number of passengers of cruise ships arrived in Turkey February increased by 509.3 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 29,826 people.
Such data on Tuesday, March 11 was brought by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey Abdulkadir Uraloglu.
“During this period, a record indicator of passenger traffic in cruise tourism for February was recorded,” the minister drew attention.
In February 2025, the number of cruise ships entering the Turkish ports increased by 220 percent compared to the same month of last year, Uralogl said. “In February, 10,656 passengers for 7 cruise ships arrived in the Kushadasy port, 9,743 passengers on 4 cruise vessels, in the port of Izmir Alsanchak – 8,484 passengers for 4 cruise vessels, in the Akdeniz port in Antalya – 943 passengers on one cruise ship,” the head of the department said.
Uraologla recalled that the month of the month was beaten in January 2025, and these numbers emphasize the continuing growth of Turkey’s popularity as a direction for cruise tourism.
The largest number of passengers and ships arrived in the ports of Istanbul
The head of the Ministry of Transport indicated that in the first two months of the year, a total of 39 cruise ships and 62,512 arrived in Turkish ports. “This growth confirms that Turkey continues to be a key direction for cruise tourism,” the uralogl noted.
According to him, the largest number of passengers and vessels in January-February arrived in the ports of Istanbul: 24,257 passengers and 12 cruise vessels. Istanbul is followed by the Izmir Alsanchak port with 8 courts and 16,485 passengers, as well as the Kushadasy port with 8 courts and 11,559 passengers, Uralogl said.
The head of the department noted that Türkiye has become a preferred direction for cruise tourism due to its historical, cultural and natural wealth. The current growth rate of cruise tourism in the country will remain and continue to develop, he is convinced.
After the opening of the port of Galatiport and the abolition of coronary measures, Türkiye became one of the most important directions for cruise tourism. “In 2024, 1 million 889 thousand 426 passengers for 1 195 cruise ships arrived in our ports. This is the largest number of passengers since 2015. In 2025, we expect that the number of passengers will exceed 2 million people, setting a new record,” the uraologl said.