Türkiye welcomes over 299,000 cruise passengers in Jan-May

By Hulya Omur Uylas

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye welcomed more than 299,000 cruise passengers from January to May, surging 114% from a year ago, the country's transportation minister said.

Cruise tourism gained momentum after Istanbul's new mega Galataport became operational in the last quarter of 2021, Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Cruise tourism investments will continue and 'Century of Türkiye' will be the century of cruise tourism," he said.

The number of cruise ships docked at Türkiye's ports soared 43.1% year-on-year in the first five months of this year.

A total of 157,940 cruise passengers were hosted at Kusadasi Port on Türkiye's Aegean coast, 67,740 at Galataport, 3,276 at Istanbul's TDI Sarayburnu dock, and 14,777 passengers at Antalya port, he said.