Istanbul, which has been out of the route for a long time with the construction process of Galataport and the pandemic that followed, raises the bar in cruise tourism.
The number of cruise ships arriving in Istanbul in 10 months reached 165 and the number of passengers reached 225 thousand 907. While 200 flights and 400 thousand passengers are expected in 2023, the target has been set as reaching 1.5 million passengers.
Cruise tourism had bled since 2015, with the terrorist incidents in Istanbul and the construction process of the port known as the Tuesday Market. After 5 years, the cruise port will start to serve again under the name of Galataport, but plans were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the whole world at the beginning of 2020.
By 2021, the cruise industry has come to a standstill. With the effect of the pandemic diminishing, the first ship docked at Galataport in October 2021. In the 10 months of this year, the number of ships arriving in Istanbul increased by 205.55% compared to 2016, which was the year before the closure of the Tuesday Market port, and reached 165. The number of passengers reached 225 thousand 907 people. In this process, while some large cruise companies started to position Istanbul as their main port, more and more shares began to be taken from cruise tourism, whose volume is 35 billion dollars.
The target of 1.5 million cruise passengers, Galataport Istanbul Port Operations Assistant General Manager Figen Ayan, noted that they have hosted 350 thousand passengers, including 150 ships and crew, so far. Stating that they started to receive reservations for 2023 well in advance, Ayan said, “Currently, we have 194 cruise ship reservations for the next year. We are working to increase this figure. Our goal is to reach 200 cruise ships and 400 thousand passengers. After 2023, we anticipate that we will be operating at full capacity and hosting 1.5 million cruise passengers and crews annually.”
Ayan said, “A lot of questions come to our info points and call center on our site about cruise ship trips, which is a very good development for the sector.” Stating that Galataport Istanbul, as a main port, has brought great activity to cruise tourism in a wide geography from the Mediterranean basin to the Black Sea, he said: there is. Passengers disembarking from the ships need hotels to stay in until their return, and during their stay in the city, starting from the district where the port is located, they explore the historical places of the city, shop, and eat at restaurants that serve local and world cuisines throughout the day. According to CLIA's 2018 report, a hop-on hop-off passenger spends $376 in the main port city, while a day-trip passenger spends $101. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Tourism, a tourist who comes to Turkey spends an average of 62 dollars a day.
"We couldn't reach the prices we wanted"
Stating that Istanbul tourism has recovered by 2022, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) and Hotels Committee Chairman Aydın Karacabay stated that prices can be increased even more once cruise tourism is fully engaged. Karacabay said, “Due to the accumulating demands, the occupancy has improved in 2022. However, we could not reach the prices we wanted. Although we caught 2019 in many points, we could not catch it in prices yet. Tourist expenditure per capita was $705 in 2019. It is currently down to $660. It's not too bad, it's recoverable. There has been an increase in nightly prices in hotels, but there is a decrease in total expenditures. European tourists came to Istanbul the most. First up are the British and the Germans. Then the tourists from the Middle East come.”
MSC Fantasia, owned by MSC Cruises, Europe's largest cruise company, also arrived at Galataport Istanbul this year. Angelo Capurro, Managing Director of MSC Cruises, said, “The trust we have in Turkey is very high. As MSC Cruises, one of our dreams for the future is to make Galataport Istanbul the main port of our cruises. One of the most important features that distinguishes Istanbul from other ports is that you dock inside the city. For this reason, it is one of the favorite ports of cruise companies in the Mediterranean basin.”
3 ships can dock at the same time
One of the most impressive features of Galataport Istanbul is the world's first underground cruise terminal, inspired by Istanbul's underground cisterns, with a Red Dot design award. A temporary bonded area is created thanks to the 176 hydraulic special hatch systems that come into play when the ship approaches the port and separate the security (ISPS) area. The fact that the hatches can be individually controlled allows the bonded area to be created flexibly based on the number of ships in the port and their dimensions. Galataport Istanbul, with its terminal spanning an area of 29 thousand m2, has the capacity to host 3 ships at the same time and host 15 thousand passengers per day.
Istanbul was removed from the cruise route
The tender for Galataport was held in 2013. Doğuş Holding won the tender with a bid of 702 million dollars. In January 2014, Salipazarı Port Management and Investments was established in partnership with Doğuş Group and BLG Capital, a subsidiary of Bilgili Holding. Then, with the construction activities, the only point where cruise cruise ships docked, the Tuesday Pazarı Port, closed its doors to cruise ships. Many large ship and cruise companies have removed Istanbul from their routes. While the number of ships calling in 2015 was 345, it decreased to 56 in 2016. In 2017, it hosted 4 cruise ships and 1,291 passengers. No ships came to Istanbul in 2018 and 2020. With the reopening of the port, Istanbul started to enter the route of cruise ships again.
Selenay YAĞCI – EKONOMİM.COM