This year, Galataport Istanbul, a new social, cultural and lifestyle destination, located on almost a mile of coastline on the Bosphorus, will open in Istanbul in the city’s Karakoy district. The $1.7 billion project is set to revive and redefine Istanbul’s historic port as an exciting lifestyle destination and is projected to welcome 25 million visitors, including seven million tourists and 1.5 million cruise passengers and crew per year.
Galataport Istanbul will be home to state-of-the-art cruise facilities including the world’s first underground cruise ship terminal. The 29,000 sqm Galataport Istanbul Cruise Ship Terminal, designed with a unique hatch system, creates a temporary customs area while a ship is in port, which converts Istanbul’s historic port into a unique promenade in an area that has been closed to public access for 200 years, and leaves the coastline free after the ship departs.
Positioned as a main port that will revitalize cruise tourism from the Mediterranean basin to the Black Sea, Galataport Istanbul is capable of accommodating three ships and 15,000 passengers a day. Galataport Istanbul is ready to accept cruise passengers and cruise activities are scheduled to start in September 2021 with Eurodam, Costa Crociere, Norwegian Cruise Line, Viking Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, to name a few.
Galataport Istanbul management also announced hiring FINN Partners, a global integrated marketing communications agency based in New York City to promote the port and its cruise and lifestyle offerings to the North American travel and cruise industry through media relations, events, thought leadership, events and strategic partnerships.
In addition to a world-class cruise port, Galataport Istanbul will serve as an exciting lifestyle destination offering, arts and culture, gastronomy and shopping, as well as visitor and resident attractions and amenities, including a Renzo Piano-designed new museum building of Istanbul Modern, the first contemporary and modern arts museum of Turkey founded in 2004.
Additional cultural amenities include The Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum and the Tophane Square which, with a specially restored Tophane Clock Tower dating back to 1848 as its centerpiece, will become the first museum square in Turkey. Additional historical buildings are undergoing restorations that will preserve the heritage and authenticity of the region. In addition to the three heritage buildings restored under the project, namely the Merkez Han, Karakoy Passenger Terminal and Çinili Han, Peninsula Istanbul presents the city a new ballroom with a guillotine glass exterior wall that opens in 90 seconds. In 2022, the 177-room The Peninsula Istanbul hotel will welcome guests.
For more information, visit https://galataport.com/en.
