Italian - Turkish Cruiser Makes Its First Voyage To A Turkish City

IZMIR - An Italian-Turkish cruiser made its first voyage to a port city in the west of Turkey on Tuesday.
The "MSC Poesia" cruiser, the brand-new ship of the MSC Cruises fleet, brought 3,000 passengers to the Turkish city of Izmir.
The MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) Cruises Turkey is the first cruise company of Turkey. Italian MSC and Turkey`s Arkas Holding are partners of the company.
The 293-meter-long and 15-storey cruiser anchored at Izmir`s Alsancak port.
Tourists got off the 2008-made cruiser and toured this historical city of Turkey.
"We aim to bring 110,000 tourists to Izmir and Turkey this year," an executive of the MSC Cruisers told reporters.
Nurdogan Evliya, the coordinator of the company in Turkey, said they had brought 70,000 tourists to Turkey by their cruise boats.
The "MSC Poesia" will stop by Izmir and Istanbul for 30 weeks during its regular tours to port cities in the Aegean and Adriatic. The cruiser will sail in Turkish waters every week, and carry its passengers to Italy, Greece and Croatia.
The cruiser can host 3,013 people and has 809 balconies and 1,275 cabins. There are also three swimming pools, fitness halls, jogging track, saunas, Turkish bath, jacuzzis, four restaurants, ten bars, a theater, night clubs and shopping areas on the boat.
Izmir hosted around 300,000 tourists, who came this Aegean city by cruisers, in 2007.
(BRC-MS)