World's largest cruise companies - Carnival and Royal Caribbean - turned their routes to Port Yenikapı (Istanbul) - major cargo and passenger transport port in Turkey's capital city.
The two companies, now waiting for the port tender, are intending to invest in the region.
Turkey's Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Ersoy earlier said that a number of cruise ship companies were interested in constructing a new port in Istanbul, under a BOT (build-operate-transfer) model, making the port city a hub point.
The two cruise companies wish to turn Port Istanbul into a Mediterranean hub and are currently waiting for the tender bidding on Yenikapı cruise port to open.
Image: Port of Istanbul (Turkey)
Erkunt Oner, Chairman of Tura Tourism, which is the Turkish sales agent of Carnival and Royal Caribbean, said that lack of cruise ports was one of the main problems facing the sector.
He added that Galataport project, that was due to be completed in 2020, was not entirely sufficient for giant ships. Therefore, a cruise port in Yenikapı needed to be built.