Some 25,000 cruise passengers visit ports in two months

ISTANBUL

Some 23 cruise ships docked at Türkiye’s ports in the first two months of 2024, bringing a total of 24,881 passengers, according to data from the Transport Ministry.

In the same period of last year, the country’s ports welcomed 14 cruise ships and 10,480 passengers.

In February alone, five cruise ships visited the Turkish ports with 4,895 passengers on board, down from 18 ships and 19,986 passengers in the first month of the year.

The port of Kuşadası was the busiest in terms of cruise ship traffic in the January-February period. The popular tourist destination hosted six cruise ships with some 6,700 passengers.

Some four ships with 4,847 passengers visited Istanbul, while the Black Sea port of Samsun also received another four cruise ships with 3,905 passengers.

The ports of Trabzon and Amasra on the Black Sea coast welcomed three ships, each with around 3,000 travelers.

Last year, a total of 1,192 cruise ships visited Türkiye’s 19 ports, marking a 20 percent increase compared to 2022.

The number of visitors rose by 52.6 percent to more than 1.5 million.