Turkiye’s leading commercial cargo and cruise port QTerminals Antalya and Alanya ports have served approximately 59 thousand passengers arriving on 48 luxury ships since the beginning of the year.
Thousands of tourists came to Antalya, which broke a record in the number of tourists this year, on giant ships called “floating hotels”.
Since the beginning of the year, 30 cruise ships have docked at QTerminals Antalya Port and 18 cruise ships have docked at Alanya Port. Approximately 40 thousand cruise passengers were hosted in Antalya Port and 19 thousand 112 cruise passengers in Alanya Port.
QTerminals Antalya Port General Manager Ozgur Sert told the AA reporter that they had the most productive year in cruise tourism.
Stating that Antalya is a city that provides services in every branch of tourism, Sert said that the region also has an important potential in terms of cruise tourism.
Pointing out that cruise tourism has gained serious momentum in the city, especially after the Covid-19 epidemic, Sert said, “2023 was much better than expectations. We expect 2024 to be better.”
Stating that ships from various countries anchored in Antalya Port this year, Sert stated that they hosted tourists mostly from EU countries, especially Germany.
Sert pointed out that this branch of tourism has a high contribution to the city and the country and said, “Cruise passengers have much more economic purchasing power than other tourists. In this respect, their contribution to the country’s economic development or closing the trade deficit is much greater.”
“We use 20% of the capacity in cruise tourism”
Ozgur Sert said that Antalya has the capacity to get a larger share from cruise tourism.
Stating that the city can only use 20% of its capacity, Sert said:
“We have an empty capacity of 80%. We are in the Eastern Mediterranean, if we meet good conditions, it is only a matter of time before we reach 200 thousand, 300 thousand, 400 thousand passengers. There is a serious potential for both our port and other cruise ports. We do not have any problems with the source point. Cruise ports in Turkiye do not compete with each other anyway. They are making serious efforts to contribute to the country through cooperation. The presence of cruise ports contributes greatly to the city. I hope we can achieve better numbers.”
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz