Turkey has set a new historic cruise record, surpassing 2 million passengers for the first time in just ten months, from January to October 2025.
According to official data announced by Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uralo?lu, the number of cruise ships calling at Turkish ports increased by 14.9% compared to the same period last year, reaching 1,278 ships. At the same time, passengers increased by 14.4%, reaching 2.02 million.
The minister stressed that “cruise in Turkey is sailing towards a new record”, noting that the target of 2 million passengers set for 2025 was already exceeded within the first ten months of the year.
October also on the rise
In October alone, Turkish ports welcomed 203 cruise ships, a number that increased by 4.1% year-on-year, while the number of passengers reached 310,872, recording an increase of 5.1%.
The port of Kusadasi remained the top reception point, with 89 calls and 138,801 passengers in October alone. The ports of Istanbul followed, with 35 ships and 89,144 passengers, and the port of Bodrum with 17 ships and 17,692 passengers. The rest of the country’s ports received a total of 62 calls and 65,235 passengers.
Kusadasi leads the way
At a ten-month level, Kusadasi maintained its lead by a wide margin, hosting 582 cruise ships and almost 1 million passengers (964,448). Istanbul followed with 242 ships and 584,330 passengers, while Bodrum took third place with 113 ships and 135,677 passengers.
Strong recovery of Turkish home porting
The impressive growth of cruise tourism in Turkey is attributed to a number of factors, such as extensive investments in port infrastructure (particularly in Istanbul’s Galataport and the upgraded port of Kusadasi), agreements with major cruise lines and the country’s tourism promotion strategy.
This development strengthens Turkey’s position as a key destination in the Mediterranean, with increasing importance as a home port, especially for ships sailing in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
