Tourism between Turkey and Greece surges, with over 1 million passengers expected to visit Greek islands in 2025 via 9,277 ferry services.
Tourism activity between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea continues to increase. According to data from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the number of passengers on ferry services from ports along the Aegean coast to the Greek islands exceeded the 1 million mark, reaching a remarkable level throughout 2025.
A total of 9,277 ferry services were organized from the ports of Bodrum, Çeşme, Marmaris, Ayvalık, Kuşadası, Fethiye, Kaş, Dikili, and İzmir to the Greek Aegean islands. With these services, 1,119,472 passengers traveled to the Greek islands.
With the inclusion of reciprocal services, the activity further increased. A total of 18,680 services were conducted with incoming and outgoing vessels, and the total number of passengers recorded reached 2,253,513.
The increase over the years is noteworthy.
There has been a significant increase in travel demand to the Greek islands in recent years. The passenger numbers by year are as follows:
- 2022: 416,085 passengers
- 2023: 804,776 passengers
- 2024: 1,153,727 passengers
- 2025: 1,119,472 passengers
The revival of tourism after the pandemic, visa-on-arrival practices, and short-term vacation plans are considered to be effective in this increase.
Kos is at the top.
The most preferred route among Turkish tourists to the Greek islands has been Kos (İstanköy). A total of 347,302 passengers traveled to Kos via services organized from Bodrum.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
