Tourism

Turkish cruise industry expects a bumper 2025

February 25, 2025, 12:08 PM

Cruise ships docked at the busiest Turkish port, Kusadasi. Almost 1 million passengers are expected this year

Turkish cruise industry worth $3bn
Vital income for ports operators
Ship and visitor numbers set to rise

Cruise port operator Global Ports Holding is expecting a successful year for passenger numbers in Turkey this year, driven by new winter cruises and disruptions to competing destinations in the eastern Mediterranean.

Worth $3 billion in revenue to Turkish port operators in 2023, cruise ship traffic is a vital source of income to Global Ports, other operators and the wider Turkish tourism industry.

Global Ports expects the number of cruise ships weighing anchor in Turkish harbours to rise 25 percent this year to 1,500 from 1,200 last year, and the number of passengers up by about a fifth to 2.3 million, said Aziz Güngör, the company’s regional director for the eastern Mediterranean.

“Despite geopolitical risks in neighboring regions, cruise calls and passenger arrivals at Turkish ports have remained strong,” Güngör told AGBI.

“In some cases, cruise lines have even diverted ships to Turkish ports as an alternative to destinations affected by conflicts in the Middle East.”

Further east of Turkey, parts of the Middle East including Israel and Lebanon were locked in war in 2024.

At Istanbul’s Galataport, in the heart of the Turkish city on the European side, the number of cruise ships docking is expected to rise this year to 225 with almost 600,000 passengers, compared with 164 ship calls and 400,000 passengers last year, Güngör said. This will be helped by the start of winter cruises to Turkey’s largest city.

At Turkey’s busiest cruise port, Kusadasi, opposite the Greek island of Samos, Global Ports is targeting 630 ship calls and 950,000 passengers this year, compared with 500 ships and 800,000 passengers last year, Güngör said. Global Ports operates that harbour.

“Total revenue for Turkish ports in 2023 was roughly the same for both cargo and cruise, at $3 billion for each of the two market segments,” said Nishal Sooredoo, associate director of Ocean Shipping Consultants, a company of Royal HaskoningDHV. “Cruise is therefore very important financially for ports.”

On average, each cruise ship passenger is worth about $2,000 in revenue to operators, he said.

“Cruises also contribute significantly to the local economy through passengers and crew spending on local services, and help job creation in various sectors, such as port operations, tourism, hospitality and retail,” he said.