The Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey Abdulkadir Uraloglla said that the country, thanks to its geographical position, is in high demand in the field of marine tourism. According to him, from January to June 2025, the number of cruise ships entering the Turkish ports increased by 18.07% compared to the same period last year – from 415 to 490.
In an interview with AA, AA Uralogl noted that Turkey is experiencing an intensive period in cruise tourism: “The number of cruise ships and passengers who arrived in our ports increased compared to last year. In June, the number of vessels increased by 14.56%, reaching 173. The number of passengers in the same month increased by 20.61%, composing 293 766 people “.
In the first six months of the year, the total number of cruise passengers who arrived in Turkey reached 732 302, which is 27.46% more compared to last year’s indicator of 574 509.
Kushadasy – the most loaded cruise port
The minister emphasized that Türkiye is becoming one of the key areas for cruise tourism in the world thanks to its cultural, historical and natural wealth. He added that along with investments in transport infrastructure, the country is actively developing a cruise sector.
“We invest in all the regions of Anatolia, contributing to the development of our country. This year we are sure that we can easily exceed a mark of 2 million passengers,” the uraologla noted.
Among the ports, the largest number of ships and tourists received Kusadasy – 227 cruises and 339,922 passengers. The ports of Istanbul served 96 ships and 220 720 passengers. In Bodrum, 29 ships and 31,796 tourists were accepted, in Czech – 24 ships and 11 183 people, in Chanaccal – 15 ships and 8,938 passengers. The rest of the ports for the same period accepted 99 ships and 119 743 passengers.
The Minister also said that in the first half of 2025, one cruise ship arrived in the ports of Fethiye, Gyukek and Synop.