Cruise passenger traffic in Türkiye rose to its highest March level in 16 years, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said on Friday.

According to Uraloğlu, Türkiye welcomed 41,039 cruise passengers last month, up 4.9% from March last year.

A total of 26 cruise ships called at Turkish ports during the month.

"March 2026 was recorded as the highest March cruise passenger figure of the last 16 years, with 41,039 passengers," Uraloğlu said in a statement.

In the first quarter as a whole, 56 cruise ships arrived at Turkish ports, while total cruise passenger numbers reached 93,787.

Istanbul ports ranked first in March with 13,307 passengers arriving on eight cruise ships.

They were followed by Kuşadası Port, which hosted 12,191 passengers on seven cruise ships, and Izmir Alsancak Port, which received 9,723 passengers on five cruise ships.

Other Turkish ports welcomed 5,818 cruise passengers from six ships during the month.

Looking at the first quarter overall, Istanbul ports also ranked first in terms of cruise ship calls, with 18 vessels arriving between January and March.

Kuşadası Port followed with 17 cruise ships, while Izmir Alsancak Port hosted 13.

In passenger numbers, Istanbul ports again led the rankings with 35,800 cruise passengers in the first three months of the year.

Izmir Alsancak Port ranked second with 27,467 passengers, followed by Kuşadası Port with 22,682 passengers.

Türkiye's cruise tourism in 2025 saw the number of passengers rise 13.2% to nearly 2.14 million, the highest level in more than a decade.

That marked the first time since 2013 that annual cruise traffic exceeded the 2 million threshold.