Hurriyet - Antalya, the popular holiday destination on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, is on its way to becoming a center of yacht-building industry, as the number of boats exported from the province is steadily increasing. Seven luxurious yachts built in the shipyards of Antalya were handed over to their owners in the first five months of this year.

The Antalya Free Zone Operator’s (ASBAS) Director General Zeki Gurses said, “As the effects of the crisis wane, orders for luxury yachts are picking up again. Antalya has exported luxury yachts worth USD 269 million in the past decade.” Adding that seven yachts, varying between 7 and 41 meters in length, were built in ASBAS and exported to France, Norway, the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands and Panama, Gurses underscored the export income of the trade, which has reached USD 27.4 million in the first five months of the year.