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First starting as a Mediterranean tour departing from Italy and involving İzmir in the year 1831, cruise tourism has reached 20.9 million passengers across the globe at the end of 2013. In 2013, 2.2 out of 20.9 million people in question visited ports of Turkey. In other words, about 11% of the total cruise tourists have happened by Turkey. It is expected that the number of worldwide cruise tourists to reach 22 million this year. This means a 5% increase. While world's ports are moving on with 5% growth goals, Turkey has promised a growth potential above world's average.

Since almost 40% of the cruise ships coming to Turkey are departing from the Pireaus port in Greece, the adverse events happening in this country directly affect Turkey. The strategy of giant cruise companies that are showing a tendency to shift their reservations to the Western Mediterranean because of the problems in the Pireaus port have caused Turkey's growth rate in this field to drop by 50%.

Despite the Greece factor, the importance of cruise passengers in Turkey's tourism is increasing day by day. The sector that accommodated 581 thousand cruise passengers in 2003 has grown by 285% in 11 years and with a small decline in 2014, it has reached 1.8 million passengers. Yet, the increase in the world's number of cruise tourists has remained around 150%. In short, Turkey has achieved a growth that is about the double of that of the world.

CRUISE TOURISTS AND CREWS ARE BRINGING IN 400 MILLION DOLLARS TO LOCAL SHOPKEEPERS

Cruise tourists have become the rising star of maritime tourism in terms of the revenue they provide. A cruise tourist spends around 1719 dollars on the ship during a 7-day voyage, which means the cruise tourism has reached 36 billion dollars worth of growth in terms of ships only. This number does not include the expenses of a cruise tourist outside of the ship. A cruise tourist spends around 3 times more than a regular tourist. For example, whereas the average daily expenses of a regular tourist in Turkey are around 50-55 dollars, this number goes up to 120 dollars for a cruise 

tourist in a transit port and 150 dollars for one in a main port. The cruise crew spends around 70 dollars daily in ports. Based upon these numbers, cruise tourists and crew bring in up to 400 million dollars to the local shopkeepers in Turkey.

In a nutshell, whereas 2.2 million cruise tourists visited Turkey in 2013, this number dropped to 1.8 million in 2014 as a result of the crises and strikes happening in Greece along with the economic crisis of the world causing the cruise companies to gravitate towards Western Mediterranean tours.

• 11% of the world's cruise tourists pass through Turkey.
• A cruise tourist spends around 1719 dollars on the ship during a 7-day voyage.
• A tourist's daily expenses in Turkey (excluding accommodation and transportation) is on average 50 dollars, while a cruise tourist's daily expenses in ports is on average 120-150 dollars.
• 30% of the tourists coming to Turkey visit Istanbul, with Kuşadası and İzmir coming as second and third, respectively.
• 84% of the 20.9 million cruise tourists across the world are from the USA.
• The most preferred route is the Caribbean and the Bahamas with 37.3%. The Mediterranean region involving Turkey is ranked number two with 19.1%.

With the 2008-2009 crisis of the world economy dusting itself off, Turkey resumes its ascent in the cruise tourism that started to grow again. When we look at the last 11 years, Turkey suffered a decline only in 2009. The number of cruise tourists coming to Turkey has exceeded 2.2 million in 2013 and carried Turkey's percentage in the world to 11%. The growth rate has been 285% for the last 10 years. Considering the finalized reservations and pre-requests, it is expected that the number of cruise tourists coming to Turkey to increase about 2-3% and reach 2.3 million in 2015.

1.8 MILLION CRUISE PASSENGERS CAME TO TURKEY IN 2014

30% OF CRUISE TOURISTS COME TO ISTANBUL

%30 of the cruise tourists coming to Turkey have arrived in Istanbul. Kuşadası ranked second with 25.7% and İzmir ranked third with 21.7%.

BERTHING PROBLEM CAUSED BY THE PRIVATIZATION OF SALIPAZARI PORT

As is known, as per the decision dated 04.10.2013 and numbered 2013/157 of the High Board of Privatization, the operating right of Istanbul Salıpazarı Harbor Reach has been transferred to Doğuş Holding Company inc. for the duration of 30 years and the Salıpazarı Harbor Reach has been transferred to said company by February 2014.

In consequence of the construction of the Salıpazarı Passenger Port under the scope of the Galata Port Project causing berthing problems for the cruise ships coming to Istanbul and Istanbul being chosen as a Turn-Around Port by the World Cruise Agencies, the actions to be taken to preserve and enhance the present cruise tourism potential can be recapitulated as such:

• Cruise ships up to 150 meters of height must be made to dock in Zeyport Port.
• With an alteration in the construction plan of Ataköy Marina and Yenikapı Meeting Area in accordance with the Tourism-2023 Strategy, a securing and harboring terminal for cruise ships of 150 meters or higher, alongside a Home Port Terminal must be constructed.
• It is evaluated that the use of Sarayburnu Dock as an alternative port will be appropriate. 

ISTANBUL, KUŞADASI AND İZMİR ACCOMMODATE 75% OF THE PASSENGERS

The cruise tourists coming to Turkey are expected to increase by 2-3% this year compared to last year. The world-wide cruise tourism reached 20.9 million people in 2013, whereas this number reached 1.8 million in 2014 and is expected to reach 24.1 million in the year 2018. The growth of the cruise tourism for ships only will reach 40 billion dollars in 2015. The 3 biggest companies of the sector, Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise hold 79.4% of the passengers and 71.8% of the income. The direct expense of the passengers and crews in ports are expected to be 19.2 billion dollars in 2015.

A significant 84% portion of the cruise tourism consists of tourists from the US. 17.6 million Americans went on cruises in 2013, and 11.7 million of those departed from the US. More than a total of 200 million passengers have preferred cruise tourism since the year 1990. 40% of these people travelled in the last 5 years. With an average cruise taking 7 days, the most preferred route by cruise tourists are the Caribbean and the Bahamas with 37.3%. They are followed by the Mediterranean region including Turkey with 19.9%.

2023 GOAL AND NEW PORTS

Cruise tourism which signifies a high-income tourist mass is of high importance to Turkey as well. Undoubtedly, the first requirement needed for this is to multiply the number of ports. New ports appear in the 'Turkey Tourism Strategy 2023 Goal' of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. According to this, the followings are added to schedule:

• Samandağı Cruise Port
• Antalya Cruise Port,
• Kuşadası Cruise Port,
• Çeşme Cruise Port,
• Çanakkale Cruise Port,
• Istanbul Galata Cruise Port,
• Istanbul Ataköy Cruise Port,
• Istanbul Zeytinburnu Cruise Port,
• Samsun Cruise Port,
• Trabzon Cruise Port.

Resources:

CLIA and Med Cruise Data

TURSAB Cruise Report

General Directorate of Shipping Data​