Türkiye’s Aegean resort town Kuşadası, one of the country’s leading cruise tourism hubs, awaits the arrival of approximately 1 million tourists by sea this year following what a local port operator official said was “quite a successful” season for the district.
Kuşadası Ege Port General Manager Aziz Güngör, speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) Monday, said Kuşadası hosted the highest number of ships and passengers in the history of the district in 2023.
Güngör noted that the previous year saw 531 cruise ship voyages, bringing in 785,000 passengers, and approximately 135,000 passengers arrived through 680 ferry trips from Samos Island.
He emphasized that therefore the targeted level of 900,000 passengers has been surpassed.
Explaining that Kuşadası alone accounts for about 50% of the total passenger ship and passenger traffic in Türkiye, Güngör said that the recovery that began in 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic continued in 2023.
Expecting a 15% increase in number of ship voyages this year, Güngör said: "We expect around 560-565 ships to arrive. In return, we expect 850,000 ship passengers. In the ferry section, we also anticipate the arrival of approximately 150,000 passengers with 850 ferry trips.”
“We expect 1 million passengers to arrive in Kuşadası by sea alone," he added.
Mentioning that they could exceed the 1 million target this year depending on geopolitical developments, Güngör pointed out that Kuşadası stands as a globally recognized center in cruise tourism.
"Kuşadası Port is a very popular port worldwide. Especially, it ranks among the top 10 ports in the Mediterranean among transit ports," said Güngör.
Referring to the passengers' satisfaction Güngör said that cruise ship companies take this measure very seriously.
“Looking specifically at Kuşadası, we can say that the satisfaction rate of passengers is between 90-93 out of 100, which is one of the highest satisfaction rates in the world," he noted.
He also pointed out they would host the ships throughout the whole year in Kuşadası, not only during the summer season, underscoring the arrivals' contributions to the local economy.
