Türkiye’s cruise tourism sees April surge

ANKARA

Turkish ports welcomed 103,896 cruise passengers in April, pushing the total number of visitors arriving via cruise ships in the first four months of the year to 197,683, according to official data.

The April figure alone exceeded the combined passenger total for the first three months of the year by around 10 percent.

Between January and April, a total of 155 cruise ships docked at 13 Turkish ports, generating nearly 200,000 passenger movements. Kuşadası emerged as the busiest destination, hosting 54 cruise ships and 61,471 passengers during the period. Istanbul followed with 56,147 passengers arriving on 35 ships, while İzmir welcomed 32,227 passengers via 17 cruise liners.

Other ports also recorded notable traffic. Antalya hosted 12,644 passengers from five cruise ships, while Marmaris received 6,661 visitors from three ships. Bodrum saw 6,073 passengers from 10 ships and Amasra welcomed 5,458 visitors across six cruise calls. Other ports, such as Çeşme, Çanakkale, Alanya, Samsun and Bozcaada, also contributed to the overall figures, albeit at lower volumes.

Despite the strong April performance, the four-month total remains slightly below last year’s level, when 205,758 passengers arrived on 169 cruise ships over the same period.

Monthly data show a steady increase in passenger numbers through the early part of the year. In January, 28,625 cruise passengers visited Türkiye, followed by 24,123 in February and 41,039 in March.