Turkish ports welcomed close to 1.8 million cruise passengers in the first 10 months of the year, marking a nearly 27% increase compared to the same period last year, the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry announced on Tuesday.

The number of passengers increased by 26.8% to reach 1.77 million, the ministry said in a written statement. Moreover, it noted that the number of cruise ships arriving in Türkiye also surged by 3.7% to 1,112 compared to last year.

"We continue our work to maximize the tourism potential of our peninsular country, and transportation and tourism are the two essential sectors for the economic and social development of our country," Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said as he evaluated the data announced by General Directorate of Maritime Affairs.

"In this sense, our ports are also of critical importance for promoting our cultural and touristic riches worldwide," he added.

He also provided information that only in October, 195 cruise ships docked across Türkiye, bringing in nearly 296,000 passengers.

The minister also noted that the Port of Kuşadası in southwestern Türkiye received 501 cruise ships and 791,300 passengers in the January-October period, becoming the busiest port in the country.

Kuşadası was followed by ports in Istanbul, which received 184 ships with 402,226 passengers in the same period, Uraloğlu said.

The cruise port in the southwestern resort town of Bodrum saw 92 ships, he noted.

Considered cruise passengers, the western province of Izmir came in third, after Kuşadası and Istanbul, hosting 153,369 cruise passengers in January-October.

Meanwhile, the ranking was not changed in October, too, as the port of Kuşadası hosted 137,898 cruise passengers, followed by Istanbul ports with 64,509 passengers and Izmir with 24,508 passengers, respectively.