A state-of-the-art port in Istanbul with an underground terminal, a celebrity chef's restaurant and a shopping center, welcomes yet another 5,000-passenger cruise ship, bringing more income to Turkey's tourism industry.
Hit by COVID-19, Turkey's tourism sector could get a shot in the arm from the revenue generated at Galataport, which opened in 2021 – a year later than planned due to the pandemic.
Figen Ayan, chief port officer at Galataport, said, "ships began to arrive one after the other" after the facility opened in October.
The 20-story Costa Venezia vessel from Italy was taking passengers from an 11-day voyage to the Aegean Sea when it docked in Galataport, its gangway connecting directly to the futuristic underground customs terminal.
It was the largest vessel to dock at the Turkish port.
The aim is for Istanbul to become the top city that receives these kinds of cruise ships, the culture and tourism minister said earlier.
The port is home to a shopping center, a hotel, cultural venues and a restaurant owned by Turkish butcher Nusret Gökce, better known as Salt Bae, the social media star who sprinkles salt on steaks in front of celebrity customers.
"Galataport Istanbul is much more than a cruise port," Ayan said.
High-spending passengers
Around 30 cruise ships have so far anchored at Galataport and 200 more are expected by the end of the year, which amounts to 450,000 passengers.
The pandemic caused havoc in the global cruise ship industry as vessels were hit by outbreaks and ships were banned in several countries.
"Now we can say that we have left the pandemic behind and that the cruise sector, which is an important segment of tourism, has revived and is on the move," Ayan said.
The target is 1.5 million cruise passengers and 25 million visitors annually.
"If a regular tourist spends $62 daily, a cruise passenger spends $400. He spends up to eight times more in one day," she said.
The project also opened up a 1.2-kilometer (three-quarter-mile) coastline that had been closed to public use for 200 years.
Some critics, meanwhile say the port posed a risk to the environment.
Cruises threaten marine life, discharging large quantities of sewage and other waste, claimed Muharrem Balcı, associate professor of biology at Istanbul University.
"The environmental cost of cruises is seven times higher than the financial return they provide," Balcı told AFP.
Large ships were banned from Venice last year after years of warnings that the giant floating hotels risked causing irreparable damage to the lagoon city.
Burak Calışkan, country manager for MSC Cruises, said no such danger awaited Istanbul.
"We don't think Istanbul will face a similar situation. We don't have a city structure like Venice," he told AFP.
Calışkan also said newly built ships addressed environmental concerns.
"To give a few examples, the exhaust gases from the ships are filtered. The paints used on the ships have been completely changed. Paints that will not harm the sea are used," he said.
"We even have efforts to reduce the sound of the ships' engines so that while our ships are navigating in the open seas, they do not cause any disturbance to the living things, especially the whales," he added.
Galataport was built by Turkey's Doğuş Group and Bilgili Holding with an investment of $1.7 billion. It is dubbed one of the world's largest coastal projects.