Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
GSI Journals Serie A: Advancements in Tourism Recreation and Sports Sciences, cilt.6, sa.2, ss.272-287, 2023 (Hakemli Dergi)
Seasonality is a characteristic problem of tourism and has a negative impact on the cruise industry. Therefore, analyzing seasonality in cruise traffic is critically important. This paper examines the seasonal fluctuations in the cruise calls and passenger movements in the seaports in Turkey during 2019-2021, by using some measures, such as the seasonal index, cluster analysis, the seasonality indicator, the Gini coefficient, the Lorenz curve, and the coefficient of variation. The findings show that the cruise traffic in the sample seaports was significantly seasonal in the given period. It is also shown that the novel coronavirus disease has aggravated seasonality which is manifest from 2020 onwards. Moreover, occupancy rates in these seaports were substantially poor. The global pandemic had a significant negative effect on port capacity utilization. Strategies for coping with seasonality in the given seaports should be created by considering the Eastern Mediterranean cruise traffic and its characteristics.