Türkiye’s Cruise Passenger Numbers Reach 12-Year High

Turkey

Over 1.7 million passengers visited Turkish ports in the first nine months of 2025 – a 16% increase year-on-year

Türkiye’s cruise tourism sector continues its strong rebound, recording its highest passenger numbers in 12 years. According to data from the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry’s Maritime Affairs General Directorate, more than 1.7 million passengers arrived at Turkish ports between January and September 2025, marking a 16% rise compared to the same period last year.

Strong growth in ship arrivals and passenger traffic

During the first nine months of 2025, 1,075 cruise ships called at Türkiye’s ports, up from 917 in the same period of 2024. Passenger traffic climbed from 1.4 million to 1.7 million, underscoring the country’s renewed prominence as a key Mediterranean cruise destination.

The last time Türkiye reached similar figures was in 2013, when the number of cruise passengers also exceeded 1.7 million. After several years of decline and a sharp drop to just 1,824 passengers during the pandemic in 2020, cruise tourism has rebounded robustly — surpassing 1 million passengers again in 2023 and setting new records this year.

Kuşadası and Istanbul lead arrivals

The port of Kuşadası, located on Türkiye’s western Aegean coast, remained the country’s leading cruise hub, welcoming 493 ships and 825,647 passengers between January and September 2025.

Istanbul ranked second with 207 ships and 495,186 passengers, followed by Bodrum with 96 ships carrying 117,985 passengers.

Other major destinations included Çeşme (60 ships, 45,863 passengers), Izmir (31 ships, 56,359 passengers), and Marmaris (30 ships, 45,364 passengers), confirming the continued expansion of Türkiye’s cruise tourism across multiple coastal regions.