Turkey’s growth and popularity expands offshore to the cruise industry, too

The Seatrade Turkish Cruise Forum has closed with delegates leaving Izmir after a 1.5 day conference and networking session, which saw cruise lines, ports and suppliers come together to discuss the growing momentum for cruise tourism in Turkey and purchasing strategies and opportunities for local sourcing.

In welcoming delegates to the conference on Wednesday 4th July, Seatrade Chairman Chris Hayman stated “these are exciting times for Turkey which last year welcomed 2.5m passengers to its shores. In addition 50,000 Turkish cruise passengers joined ships, a figure set to rise 30% to 65,000 in 2012, making Turkey one of Europe’s fastest growing source markets”.