Western Turkey's port Kusadasi has hosted 37 of all 48 cruise ships which berthed at 7 ports in the country during the first 5 months of 2018.
According to Directorate General of Merchant Marine, the number of arriving passengers from these cruise ships reached 5,765. The number of departing passengers was 7,146 while the number of transit - 29,035. Around 77% of the vessels came to Kusadasi.
While 37 cruise ships dropped anchor in the port city, 3 arrived in Antalya, 3 in Marmaris and 2 in Bodrum. During the period, one vessel docked at Mersin, Dikili and Fethiye ports each.
Industry's representatives recently revealed they expected a 30% growth in 2018. The leading cruise companies in the world recently announced they had included Turkey in their programs for the season.
There was no cruise ship traffic in January-February with 13 vessels dropping anchor in March, 8 ships in April, and 27 ships in May.
The daily spending of one cruise passenger coming to Turkey begins from US$70 and goes up to US$300. However, the number of cruisers arriving in the country has dramatically declined over the past 4 years. Turkey received a share of 10% in cruise tourism in 2013 with a total of 2.2 million tourists. The figure fell to 628,000 in 2016 and 306,000 in 2017.
The number of cruise ships visiting Turkish ports reached 590 in 2016, while in 2017 it was just 311 (from 1,542 in 2013).