The Future of Istanbul's Tourism
Makyol, one of Turkey's largest contractors has made a massive investment in the future of Istanbul tourism, in the form of a $150million dollar hotel project in the city's high end Etilier district. The hotel is to open in 2010.
Makyol is a construction company that usually focuses on infrastructure development in Turkey, and throughout the Middle East. It is a huge testament to the growth potential in Turkey and Istanbul tourism that they are entering such a project.
In the first 9 months of this year, tourism to Istanbul was up 2.4% on the same period last year, British visitor numbers to Istanbul have increased 23% compared to last year. Growth in tourism to Turkey as a whole has increased 1.1% this year compared to last year.
So it is clear that Istanbul is very much at the heart of the growth in tourism to Turkey. The fact that it is European capital of culture in 2010 can only increase this growth exponentially. This will also have a permanent effect, according to Julian Walker of UK based Turkish property agent Spot Blue, he said:
The growth in tourism to Istanbul caused by the capital of culture festivities can't fail to have a permanent effect on the city's tourism figures. As we have seen throughout Turkey, people who visit go once tend to go again, and they tell their friends and family about it; word of mouth is most successful advertisement of Turkey as a tourism destination."
Head of Makyol Çebi said: "Foreign investments will return to the city quickly as demand increases. Istanbul is taking concrete steps to becoming a fair and congress centre. The demand for high-quality tourism centres is rapidly increasing as the existing number of centres fails to meet the demand."
“Apart from Etiler, we are also interested in Istanbul’s Beyoglu district and the southern city of Antalya,” he added.
Article by Liam Bailey
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