Turkish India Tourism Council (TITC), the representative body of Turkish Tourism had invited the National Joint Council of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) to visit Turkey from 06 to 10 Apr 2011 in order to have a first hand knowledge of the tourism potential of the country.
During the visit of the TAFI delegation, both the organizations signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to help promote bilateral tourism between the two countries.
The primary objectives of the MOU are:
a. To help promote tourism between the two countries
b. Contribute to industrial and technological collaboration between the enterprises and economic institutions of both countries
c. Coordinate jointly in collecting the data in relation to tourism, technological cooperation and investments to the mutual benefits of the two nations
The Tourism Council will operate in the form of two National Divisions, one in India and other in Turkey and the members of the Council will meet in alternating years in Turkey and India.
Emin Cakmak, Chairman of the TITC and a signatory to the MOU stated that Indian tourists to Turkey currently stood at about 70,000 and that TITC has been actively conducting road shows in various Indian cities to attract greater numbers of Indian tourists and gain a significant share of the burgeoning outbound market.
Ajay Prakash, President of TAFI and the other signatory to the MOU stated that in spite of close to 14 million tourists who traveled out of Turkey last year, India got barely 10,000. “Our countries share a number of similarities in culture, values and cuisine; as a matter of fact there are close to 9000 words in the Turkish language that are very similar to Indian words. We need to make a concerted effort to tap the outbound Turkish market and TAFI will take the lead to create greater awareness of India in Turkey through seminars and road shows.”
At the end of the signing ceremony, Cakmak stated that TITC will seriously work on the proposal made by TAFI to organize educational familiarization trips to Turkey for TAFI members who are actively promoting outbound tourism in order to give them an opportunity to see the destination for themselves. The first of such tours are expected to start in August this year and TAFI members can look forward to a 5 to 6 night educational trip at a highly subsidized rate. Turkish Airlines is looking to expand its footprint across various Indian cities and is expected to partner actively in this venture.
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