THE FIRST CRUISE SHIP DOCKED IN IZMIR AFTER SIX YEARS

A 6-year cruise ship drought has ended for Izmir. The Insignia cruise ship, with a capacity of 800 guests and owned by the U.S.-based cruise line Oceania Cruises, docked at the Alsancak Port in Izmir. The ship, which will visit 60 countries on six continents, was welcomed by Izmir Mayor Tunc Soyer, President of Izmir Chamber of Commerce Mahmut Ozgener, and Deputy Governor of Izmir Hikmet Dengisik.

Izmir will host 34 cruise ships this year, according to the Mayor Soyer. He said the Insignia is the smallest of the 34 ships to come. “Izmir doesn’t deserve its current tourism figure of 1.5-2 million. We aim to increase this figure in the short term to 4.5 million, corresponding to the population of Izmir. Cruise tourism is the first step for this,” Soyer added. President of Izmir Chamber of Commerce Mahmut Ozgener said a team from the city will attend a meeting to be held in Miami, in the U.S. “After that, we’ll attend, along with Izmir Mayor Tunc Soyer, a cruise fair in Malaga. Raising the number of cruise expeditions to Izmir is important for our goals,” Ozgener noted.