376,924 foreign tourists visited Turkey on cruise ships in the first seven months of this year, with the Aegean Tourism Center of Kusadasi hosting the largest number of cruise passengers, around 212,000, the Turkish Maritime Affairs Authority said.
Four cruise ships with 1,433 passengers visited Turkey in January, according to a statement released by the agency on August 10. About 343 cruise passengers arrived in the country, 270 departed and about 820 were transit cruise passengers.
February was the month with the least number of passengers, with only one cruise ship arriving in the country. Of the 294 passengers arriving in Turkey, 293 were transit passengers. Only one person entered Turkish territory on a cruise ship in February.
In March, six cruise ships with 629 passengers arrived in Turkey. April was the month when the number of ships and passengers began to increase. About 48 ships brought about 33,000 passengers to the country.
In May, the number of cruise passengers exceeded 100,000. A total of 104,542 passengers disembarked from 136 vessels.
