Turkey is continuing to pursue a rapid development path to appeal to the discerning taste of today’s traveler. As part of its overall strategy to attract tourists, the destination has seen significant investment in a number of new hotels and attractions, coupled with an equally robust infrastructural program.
“With the growing competition in travel and tourism, we are pleased that our various travel partners in hospitality, attractions and aviation have made such an investment to ensure the continued success of tourism,” noted Sedat Gönüllüoğlu, Director of Turkish Culture and Tourism Office. “Tourism is an important part of our economy, and helps in building cultural bridges and sustaining local communities.”
This increased development has stimulated growth in the industry and according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose for the first time in nearly two years in April, up by 18.1 percent year-on-year to 2.07 million – the first year-on-year increase recorded since July 2015.
AVIATION NEWS
• Turkish Airlines is now offering laptops to business-class travelers after Britain and the United States banned large electronic devices from the cabin of flights from certain countries. The airline which began offering the laptops on May 6 on US-bound flights noted that this was in response the recent ban by Washington of all electronic devices larger than a mobile phone on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in seven Middle Eastern countries and Turkey, only allowing them to be transported in checked luggage. Britain followed with a similar ban for five countries in the Middle East and north Africa as well as Turkey. Effective May 12, the airline began offering the same service for UK-bound business class passengers. Passengers are now able to request a laptop from the cabin crew to use in-flight.
• Istanbul New Airport is on track for completion and set to welcome customers in 2018. In what is expected to be the world’s largest airport by passenger numbers, ‘Istanbul New Airport’ plans to accommodate 150 million passengers a year, outperforming Atlanta International Airport which handled 101 million in 2015 according to the Airport Council International. The airport is expected to provide opportunities for flights to more than 350 destinations for nearly 100 airline companies. Istanbul New Airport will generate 4.9 percent of Turkey’s gross domestic product (GDP), which will be an additional $79 billion.
HOSPITALITY NEWS
• Paramount Pictures, the world-renowned film production company, has opened its first- hotel in Turkey’s southwestern resort town of Bodrum. Since opening in May, “The Bodrum by Paramount Hotels & Resorts” has been exciting the attention of jetsetters and Hollywood stars. The 134 room property offers a cinematic and entertainment concept differentiating itself by offering three special services: cinema technology, Hollywood connection and California style.
DESTINATION NEWS
• The Alanya district of Antalya province in Turkey is gearing up to welcome visitors to experience its new submarine voyage. This submarine would enable tourists to discover the Mediterranean Sea and it has already been opened to tourists following some initial test drives. The company ZZT Ulucan Marine imported the submarine known as ‘Nemo Primero’ from Jamaica. Produced in Finland, it is enriched with a capacity of carrying 22 passengers and two crew members. It is 13 meters in length and it is capable of diving to a maximum of 100 meters in depth.
• Mein Schiff 3, the first transatlantic cruise ship of the season has called at Ege Ports Liman in western Turkey’s Kuşadası with a total of 2,739 passengers. The ship, part of the TUI Cruise fleet, carried passengers to visit the historic sites of Ephesus and the House of the Virgin Mary, while other visitors shopped around Kuşadası. Kuşadası is a famous holiday resort town and is located south of Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean Sea coast. It is situated conveniently close to major archaeological sites and the Dilek Peninsula NationalPark, one of Turkey’s most biologically diverse areas.
HERITAGE NEWS
• Travelers with an interest in cultural heritage can visit the “Archaeological Site of Ani,” inscribed in 2016 on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This medieval city combines residential, religious and military structures, characteristic of a medieval urbanism built up over the centuries by Christian and then Muslim dynasties.
• Three more Turkish sites have been included into UNESCO’s tentative list of world heritage, bringing the total number of Turkish properties on the list up to 72. The archaeological site of Assos in northwestern Çanakkale province, Ayvalık industrial landscape in western Balıkesir province, and Ivriz cultural landscape in central Konya province were placed on the tentative list on April 15. Turkey has a total of 16 assets on the World Heritage List, ranking 17th among all countries in the world.
WHAT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS ARTICLE:
- The airline which began offering the laptops on May 6 on US-bound flights noted that this was in response the recent ban by Washington of all electronic devices larger than a mobile phone on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in seven Middle Eastern countries and Turkey, only allowing them to be transported in checked luggage.
- This increased development has stimulated growth in the industry and according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose for the first time in nearly two years in April, up by 18.
- “With the growing competition in travel and tourism, we are pleased that our various travel partners in hospitality, attractions and aviation have made such an investment to ensure the continued success of tourism,” noted Sedat Gönüllüoğlu, Director of Turkish Culture and Tourism Office.
