TURKISH Tourism Office has doubled its promotional budget for India from last year and will ramp up cultural showcases in a bid to further encourage further growth from the market.
Turkey received 78,000 visitors from India between January and October 2012, a 25 per cent increase over the same period the year before.
“We plan to invest US$2 million in the Indian market in 2013 – half of which will go to advertising and the rest to participating in tourism fairs, organising film festivals and cultural shows and joint promotional campaigns,” said Özgür Aytürk, culture and tourism counsellor, Turkish Embassy New Delhi.
Turkish Tourism Office is also looking to establish a Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center to showcase its culture and offer Turkish language lessons.
Turkish Airlines has also applied for approval to double the number of daily flights it runs from New Delhi and Mumbai. The airline has also applied to operate services to Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Amritsar.
“Turkey has become very popular among Indian travellers. Efforts to increase the number of promotional campaigns or flights will add to its visitor arrivals from India,” said Prem Syal, CEO and managing director, Hi! Tours.
