Cruise tourism, which has increased its influence all over the world, continues to be of great importance for Turkey. Our country, located in the most popular location of the Mediterranean Basin with its deep blue seas, virgin bays and cruise ports, is also in a very special place with its service quality.
CRUISE TOURISM, INCREASING 12-fold, WILL SET NEW RECORDS IN 2024
Pointing out that there was a 2022 percent increase in early reservations in the last quarter of 2023 in the Turkish cruise industry, which has been growing regularly since 20, Çavuşoğlu said, “Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure data show that there have been serious increases in the number of both incoming ships and tourists in recent years. In 2021, 78 thousand 45 passengers came to Turkey with 362 cruise ships. In 2022, the number of cruise ships increased 12-fold to 991. "The number of passengers increased 22-fold in the same period, exceeding 1 million 6 thousand," he said. Pointing out that there is good news in tourism, Çavuşoğlu stated that cruise ships have continued to steer towards Turkey after the pandemic, especially since 2022. Stating that Turkey was preferred due to security after the Israel-Palestine war, Çavuşoğlu said, “Our country reached 2023 million cruise passengers in cruise tourism in 1.5 and broke a record in this sense. We have constantly said that we predict that 2024 will witness records in cruise tourism. The first 2024 months of 2 started quickly. "The first two months of the year broke records in terms of both ship and passenger numbers," he said.
CRUISE TOURISM WILL EXPERIENCE ITS 'GOLDEN YEAR'
Stating that our country is a very important tourism destination, Çavuşoğlu said, “Turkey is among the most important tourism destinations in the world in terms of both its historical and natural beauties. Our country's tourism sector has achieved its target of 2023 billion dollars and 60 million tourists in 60. Our next target is 100 billion dollars and 100 million tourists. In the January-December 2023 period, the number of cruise ships arriving at our ports was 192 and the number of passengers was 1 million 542 thousand 522. "With this data, we have exceeded our 2023 target of 1.5 million cruise passengers," he said. Stating that a total of 18 cruise ships came to Turkey, 5 in January and 23 in February, Çavuşoğlu stated that they predicted these data and emphasized that 2024 will be a golden year in cruise ships.
Finally, Çavuşoğlu gave the following information: “2015 was a peak in terms of cruise tourism. Lastly, in the January-February period of 2015, 22 ships docked at Turkish ports. Thus, January and February 2024 appeared as the January-February period with the highest number of cruise ships after 2015. According to the Ministry's data, the total number of passengers in the first two months of 2024 was 24 thousand 881. The last record was broken in the same period of 2011 with 28 thousand 923 passengers. Cruise tourism will continue to provide lifeline to our country's economy. We think that we can see the big picture on the way to the record in the first half of the year. We would like to underline once again that cruise tourism should be supported, especially by our ministry. Especially continental Europe, CIS countries, Russia, Asia and African countries prefer our country for cruise tourism. “We must further increase the number of countries and continents that choose us.”
GÜRBÜZ CAN: OUR SHIP ASTORIA GRANDE STARTED THE NEW SEASON ON MARCH 15
Camelot Maritime General Manager Gürbüz Can said, “Our ship Astoria Grande, which started the new season; It left the port of Sochi / Russia on 25 March to visit the ports of Istanbul, Kuşadası, Alexandria / Egypt and Izmir respectively. Although we started the season earlier than previous years, our demands and occupancy rates are satisfactory. We think that 2024 will be productive for both Camelot Maritime and our country's cruise tourism. "We are very assertive in 2024 with both our service quality and the innovations we have made," he said.
