#Sarp Özkar

The number of cruise passengers exceeded 1 million

According to the AA correspondent's compilation from the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs data, cruise tours continue to be the favorite of the tourism industry. In this context, in the January-September period, the number of cruise ships visiting the ports in the country increased by 16.5 percent compared to the same period last year, from 752 to 876. In the same period, the number of passengers traveling on these ships increased by 54.1 percent, reaching 1 million 97 thousand 175 from 711 thousand 813. Number of visitors by ports When the data is evaluated in terms of passengers visiting the ports, the number of passengers arriving at Kuşadası Port increased by 66 percent in the 9 months of this year compared to the previous year and reached 603 thousand 876. Cruise passengers arriving in Istanbul increased by 48.5 percent to 261 thousand 88 in the said period. Bodrum was visited by 70 thousand 651, Çeşme by 50 thousand 898, and Antalya by 19 thousand 363 cruise ship tourists. The total number of passengers visiting other ports was recorded as 91 thousand 299. "Operators that included Israel on their route canceled their tours" Tourism Communication Specialist Sarp Özkar stated that there has been a remarkable increase in cruise tourism in recent years and said that the target of 1.5 million passengers can be reached this year. Touching on the effects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the sector, Özkar stated that tour operators in Turkey who include Israel in their routes have canceled their existing tours and quotas. Özkar: "Tour operator managers chose to cancel their tours as a result of a reaction to the genocidal attacks on civilians, rather than knowing that people would not go to Israel under these conditions."