Türkiye's cruise tourism in 2025 saw the number of passengers reach its highest level in more than a decade, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said on Monday.

Nearly 2.14 million cruise passengers traveled to Türkiye last year, a 13.2% increase from the previous year, Uraloğlu said in a statement.

That marked the first time since 2013 that annual cruise traffic exceeded the 2 million threshold, according to data from the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs.

The number of cruise ships calling at Turkish ports rose 15.1% from 2024 to 1,375.

Cruise activity accelerated toward the end of the year. In December 2025, a total of 28 cruise ships called at Turkish ports, bringing 40,773 passengers. That marked the highest December figure on record.

Passenger traffic for the month rose 16.3% compared with a year earlier, according to Uraloğlu.

On an annual basis, the Aegean resort town Kuşadası remained Türkiye's leading cruise hub in 2025.

Kuşadası received 617 cruise ships, the highest number nationwide.

It was followed by Istanbul with 265 ships and the southwestern resort town of Bodrum with 116 ships.

Passenger traffic showed the same ranking.

Kusadasi hosted 995,843 passengers, while Istanbul and Bodrum followed with 625,517 and 138,166 passengers, respectively.