Istanbul Convention and Visitors Bureau (ICVB) announced on Tuesday their target of making Istanbul in the Top 5 convention destinations of the world in next 5 years.
ICVB organized its annual members’ luncheon at the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ICOC) Headquarters in Eminönü with the participation of Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, Turkish Airlines’ President Temel Kotil, representatives of its member companies and organizations as well as representatives of media.
Taking the stage to make the opening and welcome speech; ICVB Vice President Yilmaz Tecmen said, “Istanbul now becomes one of the most popular convention destinations in the world. ICCA’s 2010 ranking that ranks Istanbul 6th in Europe and 7th in the world confirmed Istanbul’s popularity”.
Tecmen said that “city marketing organizations” led by Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and ICVB’s ‘convention campaign’ that started in 2007 show its results today not only in tourism sector but also in about 100 sectors that registered to ICOC.
Tecmen sent his appreciation to ICOC President Murat Yalçıntaş who is also the President of ICVB since 2006 for his success. Recalling that Istanbul was only able to enter the list in the 40th spot holding nearly 20 congresses in 2000, Tecmen said, “Raising the number of congresses rapidly over the last 10 years, the city entered the top 10 across the world, which shows an important success.”
Tecmen revealed their target to bring up Istanbul in the Top 5 within 5 years.
ICVB General Manager Elif Balcı Fisunoğlu took the stage after Mr. Tecmen and made a presentation of what has been done so far for Istanbul, and what Istanbul is likely to achieve in the next years. Mrs. Fisunoğlu said that Istanbul that hosted several important events such as meeting of the world’s largest congress organizer; MCI, Istanbul continued its success stories in the first half of 2011. Mrs. Fisunoğlu added, “Thanks to this success, many big organizations including AIDS and cardiology congresses held with the participation of nearly 25,000 delegates, plan to come to Istanbul”.
After Mrs. Fisunoğlu’s presentation, Turkey’s national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines’ President Temel Kotil took the stage and presented Turkish Airlines (THY) success story.
THY, which started direct flights to Iraq’s central province of Necef recently, flies to a total of 142 destinations directly, said Temel Kotil. Mr. Kotil said that Turkish Airlines targets to destinations where most of the carriers don’t fly and also serves best possible connections for long haul flights. Within this perspective, Mr. Kotil indicated that number of carriers flying to African destinations is very low when compared to other continents. “THY has already placed orders for 10 planes to fly to African countries and is readying to start direct flights to Manila, the capital of the Philippines soon,” added Mr. Kotil
via Istanbul to be in Top 5 Convention Cities list.
