Turkish Tourism to target Weddings and Bollywood to increase Indian arrivals

Turkish Tourism to target Weddings and Bollywood to increase Indian arrivals

By P Krishna Kumar | New Delhi

Turkish Tourism is planning to target large wedding groups and the film industry from India to increase their share of Indian outbound travellers. According to Özgür Aytürk, Culture & Tourism Counsellor for India, Turkish Embassy-New Delhi; Turkish Tourism will organise dedicated FAM trips for wedding planners and film industry specialists to Turkey to showcase various facilities and destinations. Turkey will also be engaging the Indian market in the coming months through a variety of cultural events.

As part of the cultural events planned, Turkish troupes will be visiting India to perform in some of the main cities, including Mumbai and Delhi. Turkish Sufi dancers will perform in Mumbai at the invitation of National Centre for Performing Arts on November 13, 2011 and in Delhi on November 16, 2011. “In 2012, India and Turkey will be celebrating their 60th anniversary of establishing cultural relations. We are planning various cultural exchange programmes next year,” informed Aytürk.

According to Aytürk, Turkish Tourism is also planning to promote the destination for Golf Tourism in India through some novel initiatives. The first among these is a golfing event planned by Turkish Tourism in partnership with Delhi Golf Club on September 21, 2011 in Antalya. The event is in collaboration with Antalya Golf Club and Kempinski Hotel, Antalya. “The sea-side resort city of Antalya is in Belek region, which is famous for international standard golf courses,” stated Aytürk.

Commenting on the various facets of the destination, Aytürk said that, Istanbul, which is a major destination for shopping and nightlife in Europe, is not well known for these aspects in India. “Some of the major shopping malls of Europe are located in Istanbul along with exciting street markets. While Indians go to Dubai for shopping, people from the Middle East generally travel to Istanbul for shopping,” informed Aytürk.

Turkey received 63,000 Indian visitors last year registering almost 15 per cent growth compared to the previous year. However, according to Aytürk, the first seven months of 2011 have witnessed a growth of almost 25 per cent in Indian arrivals over the same period last year. “We are looking at a 20 to 25 per cent growth in Indian arrivals this year,” stated Aytürk.

via Travel Biz Monitor :: Turkish Tourism to target Weddings and Bollywood to increase Indian arrivals.