Turkey to launch aggressive tourism campaign in 2005

A number of fairs of key importance for Turkish tour operators and the Culture and Tourism Ministry will be held in such varied countries as the United States, China, the Russian Federation, Malaysia, Israel, South Korea, Serbia and Montenegro, Lebanon, Uzbekistan and Norway.

The ministry has announced that it will attend some of the fairs along with representatiaves from the private sector, during which time Turkish tourism will be promoted to foreign visitors and tour operators. The ITB Berlin Tourism Exchange and MITT Moscow Tourism Fair are two important events that the ministry is planning to attend.

The Berlin fair, scheduled to be held March 11-15, 2005, is widely considered the most important activity in the tourism sector since it is attended by a majority of countries from around the world. This year in excess of 10,000 hotels and tour operators from more than 180 countries will attend the fair. Private tour representatives and the Culture and Tourism Ministry have rented 2,000 square meters in which to promote Turkey to the world tourism market.

The second important activity for Turkish tourism is the MITT Moscow Tourism Fair, which will take place March 23-26, 2005. Russians constitute the second largest number of tourists to Turkey, preceded only by the Germans. Turkey has rented 600 square meters in a bid to increase its share in the Russian tourism market.

Turkey will embark on this intensive program with the Utrecht Tourism Fair, scheduled for Jan. 11-16, followed by Madrid on Jan. 26 -30 and the BIT Milan Tourism Fair on Feb. 12-15.

Fairs having importance for Turkish tourism are:
Utrecht Tourism Fair (Netherlands) – Jan. 11-16, 2005

Madrid Fitur Tourism Fair (Spain) – Jan. 26-30, 2005

BIT Milan Tourism Fair (Italy) – Feb. 12-15, 2005

ITB Berlin Tourism Exchange (Germany) – March 11-15, 2005

MITT Moscow Tourism Fair (Russian Federation) – March 23-26, 2005

Arabian Travel Market Dubai (UAE) – May 2005

WTM London World Tourism Fair (Britain) – November 2005