Galataport Istanbul Port Director Tolga Tuncay said the port expects around 200 cruise ship calls and approximately 520,000 passengers to visit Istanbul this year, adding that the long-term goal is to reach 1 million passengers through gradual growth.
The Turkish cruise sector continued its growth in the first half of the year. In June alone, 164 cruise ships arrived at Turkish ports carrying 24,793 embarking passengers. During the first six months of the year, the number of cruise vessels calling at Turkish ports reached 488, while the number of arriving passengers totaled 59,372.
Departing cruise passengers numbered 26,714 in June, while transit passenger traffic reached 249,368. For the first half of the year, departing passengers totaled 63,817 and transit passengers reached 633,236.
Kuşadası remained Türkiye’s busiest cruise port during the first six months of the year, hosting 204 cruise ships. Istanbul ranked second with 95 cruise vessel calls.
Tuncay said Istanbul continues to maintain its position as one of Türkiye’s most important cruise destinations.
He noted that disruptions in regional geopolitics have affected cruise operations. According to Tuncay, the closure of shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz during the U.S./Israel-Iran conflict led to mandatory cancelations of some voyages to Istanbul by ships stranded in the Persian Gulf.
He also pointed out that Black Sea itineraries, many of which traditionally begin and end in Istanbul, remain suspended due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
“Despite all of these challenging circumstances, we have managed to maintain in 2026 the same proportion of homeport passengers within total cruise traffic that we achieved in 2025,” Tuncay said. “The fact that cruise companies continue to use Galataport Istanbul as a homeport is an important indication of their long-term confidence in both our port and our country.”
According to Tuncay, U.S. citizens account for the largest share of cruise visitors arriving in Istanbul, representing 25 percent of passengers. Travelers from Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain follow in that order.
Tuncay said the profile of cruise travelers changes throughout the season. Passengers aged 46 to 75 make up 58 percent of visitors arriving at Galataport Istanbul, while the 16 to 45 age group accounts for 25 percent.
He added that the arrival of luxury cruise brands in Istanbul has increased the city’s appeal among high-income travelers. Tuncay stated that cruise vessels operated under the Aman at Sea and Orient Express brands are scheduled to begin Istanbul voyages in 2027.
Regarding passenger stays, Tuncay said travelers on transit itineraries, where Istanbul serves as a stop along a route, spend an average of about 10 hours in the city. For homeport itineraries, where Istanbul is the starting or ending point of a cruise, average stays can extend to as much as 28 hours.
“Some of our passengers continue their travels to other destinations in Türkiye either before embarking in Istanbul or after completing their cruise,” he said.
Tuncay emphasized that increasing cruise traffic has not created capacity challenges at the port.
“Galataport Istanbul was designed to accommodate three large cruise ships and a total of 15,000 passengers per day, so we are not experiencing any capacity-related operational issues,” he said. “At the same time, we continue efforts to optimize capacity by extending Istanbul’s cruise season, which currently runs from April through November, across all 12 months of the year.”
