Galataport Istanbul, which has become a source of inspiration for similar projects abroad by transforming the city's historical port into a world-class cruise port and a shopping, gastronomy and culture and arts center, hosts the giant cruise ship Costa Venezia with a capacity of five thousand two hundred and sixty passengers. Costa Venezia, which arrived at Galataport Istanbul on Wednesday, April 27, will leave the port on Monday, May 2, in the evening.
Galataport Istanbul, which started to host cruise ships as of October 2021, now hosts Costa Venezia at the port. Costa Venezia, the largest cruise ship to dock at our ports in history, draws attention with its 5260 passenger capacity, 64 meters in height and 323 meters in length. Costa Venezia, owned by Carnival Cruise Line, an international cruise ship company headquartered in Florida, will depart from Istanbul on April 27 from the Greek port of Piraeus to go to Izmir on the evening of May 2, this time for the first time. It descends into the water and is expected to make many more trips to its first stop, Galataport Istanbul, by the end of the year.
200 ships expected to arrive by the end of the year
Galataport Istanbul Port Operations Deputy General Manager Figen Ayan said the following about the first voyage of Costa Venezia that will start from Galataport Istanbul: “As Galataport Istanbul, we are pleased to host cruise ships since October 2021, after a five-year hiatus. Costa Venezia has a very important place among cruise ships with its five thousand two hundred and sixty passenger capacity and size. With a length of 323 meters, it is almost equivalent to the Eiffel Tower. It is a source of pride for us that, in addition to being the largest ship to dock at our ports in history, it will start its first voyage from here. This will make a significant contribution to both the promotion of Istanbul and its economy. Our underground terminal, connected to the special cover system implemented for the first time in the world, where we fulfill all international and national regulations, is currently under the lens of cruise companies and the entire industry. The interest we have seen at Seatrade Cruise Global, the biggest fair of the industry, which we attended after 3 years as Galataport Istanbul, supports this. We aim to host approximately 2022 ships and 250 thousand passengers by the end of 750, and we will continue to contribute to the tourism of Turkey and the region.”
In the cruise industry, ports, which are the starting and ending points of cruises, are defined as "home ports". Cruise passengers, who start and end their journey from the main port, spend 4 times as much as a transit passenger arriving daily, and 8 times as much as a tourist coming to the city from other routes, in addition to accommodation and flight expenses.
It is predicted that Galataport Istanbul, which is positioned as the main port, will bring great activity to cruise tourism in a wide geography from the Mediterranean basin to the Black Sea.
Galataport Istanbul continues its efforts to reach 1,5 million passengers and crew per year in line with the target set before the pandemic. According to the 2018 report of CLIA (International Cruise Lines Association), a hop-on hop-off passenger spends 376 dollars in the main port city, and a daily passenger spends 101 dollars. These studies reveal that the visitors coming to the country by cruise provide a foreign currency inflow that is much higher than the average expenditure of the tourists in every country where the ships stop.
The coastline remains open to the public when the ship docks.
While transforming the historical port of the city into a world-class cruise port, Galataport Istanbul changed the dynamics of the sector by implementing innovations such as an underground terminal, a special hatch system, and a temporary bonded area.
The coastline remains open to access by creating a temporary bonded area, thanks to the special hatch system consisting of 29.000 hatches that separates the Galataport Istanbul cruise terminal, which covers an area of 2 m176, and the bonded area and the security (ISPS) area when there are no ships in the port. Thanks to this innovation, Karaköy's unique coastline remains open, except for the part where the ship docks and is separated by hatches. All kinds of terminal, baggage and passport control procedures of passengers are carried out in the world's first underground terminal.
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