No:95 MAY/JUNE'07 - S&M Publication ltd

Turkey & Tunisia to Cooperate inTourismTurkish Culture & Tourism Minister AtillaKoc and Tunisian Culture Minister TijaniHaddad last week signed a protocolaiming to boost cooperation in the tourismindustry between the two countriesduring the 8th term meeting of Turkish-Tunisian Tourism Joint Commission inAnkara. Koc said that Turkish and Tunisianauthorities would discuss the waysof increasing the number of tourists visitingTurkey and Tunisia as well as internationaltourism fairs held in both countries.Koc underlined, “new trends anddemands in the world tourism sector necessitatenew arrangements in strategiesand policies that have been pursued sofar.” Stating that his ministry has beenworking to attract more foreign capitalto Turkey, Koc remarked that they alsofocused on alternative tourism branchesincluding thermal tourism, congress tourism,winter tourism and culture tourism.On the other hand, Haddad said thatrelations between Turkey and Tunisiacould be boosted through more cooperationin the tourism sector.Intra Tours – DMC: Turkey Re-entered in Ventaglio CatalogueIntra Tours –DMC which hasbeen operatingfor Turkish tourismsince 26years has causedItaly’s largesttour operator;Ventaglio to restart selling Turkey destinations.Ventaglio took Turkey to itscatalogue after many years. Intra Toursinvited 260 sales agents with a specialflight to Antalya region to promote nature,history and resorts of the area. Thesales agents got an idea about whatTurkey can offer at their 3 night/4 daystay. The guests were accommodate atAmara Marine Hotel in Beldibi provinceand visited hotels and resorts to putthem into their catalogue, have cruisetour, tour cultural and historical sites,and taste delicious samples of Turkishmeals.Executive directors of Ventaglioattended the tour which took place between23-26 April.Polish Tourists Fly by Jet TouristikEkmel Akdeniz, CEO of Jet Turistik,which flies tourists from Poland to Turkey,said he expects 20,000 Polishtourists to come to Turkey in 2007.During his visit with Alanya Tourism andPromotion Foundation (ALTAV) ChairmanNüvit Özkan, Akdeniz said theEuropean market has a positive viewof Alanya. Noting that Alanya waswell promoted at the ITB Berlin Fair inGermany, Akdeniz said these types offairs confirm that Alanya has become abrand for Turkish holiday destination.Akdeniz said three tourism fairs hadbeen held in Poland. Alanya had beenpromoted at each of these fairs, headded and that pre-reservations haveincreased by 60 percent as a result ofthe fair promotions.“Alanya is a brand in the Polish marketplace.We expect 20,000 Polish touriststo come to Alanya this year,” saidAkdeniz. He said the first tourist grouparrived in Alanya last week. Also, becauseof funding contributed by theAlanya Municipality, an 80-person radio,television and media group fromPoland will hold their annual meetingon May 9-16 in Alanya.