The number of tourists who arrived in Turkey on cruise ships in the period January-July 2025 exceeded 1.06 million people, with the country recording a growth of 19 percent on an annual basis, as well as the best performance for the same period since 2013, reported “Hurriyet Daily News“, BTA reported.
According to data from the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, a total of 675 cruise ships have docked at Turkish ports since the beginning of the year, which is a significant increase compared to the same period in 2024, when their number was 577.
The data show that in the same period, the port of the resort town of Kusadasi was the busiest, where 316 cruise ships arrived with over half a million tourists. In second place is the port in Istanbul, which welcomed 127 cruise ships with over 300,000 tourists, and in third place is the one in Bodrum, which was visited by over 65,000 tourists.
Despite the strong season for cruise tourism in Turkey, official statistics show that in the period January - July the country welcomed a total of 28.4 million foreign tourists, which is a decrease of 2.1 percent compared to the same period in 2024, notes “Hurriyet Daily News“.