Held under the patronage of Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Günay, Istanbul Convention & Visitors Bureau (ICVB) organized the second edition of “Become a Convention Ambassador of Istanbul” program gathering and award ceremony at Haliç Congress Center.

109 congress ambassadors that contributed Istanbul being the world’s 7th Congress City in 2010 received plaques for appreciation on Thursday, December 22, 2011.

Undersecretary of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism Özgür Özaslan, Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, ICVB Board Member and Turkish Airlines General Manager Temel Kotil attended the award ceremony that was hosted by TUGEV and ICVB President Dr. Murat Yalçıntaş.

Mr. Yalçıntaş made a welcome speech and said that developments in congress tourism in last 10 years and Istanbul’s growing position in the industry are the fruits of Istanbul Convention & Visitors Bureau’s successfully integrated work with sector and its strategic and effective marketing & promotion activities that were carried out with the support of the national societies and associations.

“ICVB joined forces with Culture and Tourism Ministry, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Turkish Airlines for the promotion and marketing of the city. All establishments shared same vision and showed a great harmony at achieving goals.”

In order to enhance the collaboration, Yalçıntaş said, “ICVB introduced a program with a slogan of “Become a Congress Ambassador of Istanbul” in 2007. Within the part of this program we make cooperation with national associations, unions and academics. Today we see the positive impact of that in Istanbul’s rising popularity in the meetings industry”.

“We aimed to move Istanbul into world’s Top 10 and Europe’s Top 5 congress destination list; today we are happy and proud to achieve this.”

ICVB screened Istanbul’s Congress Ambassador Film to the large audience of industry representatives and media. Later, ICVB presented specially prepared plaques to the 109 congress ambassadors that brought 109 congresses to Istanbul in 2010 and made the city world’s 7th congress city.

Mr. Yasin Torun-Chairman of Turkish Society of Infrastructure and Trenchless Technologies-TSITT (AKATED) and Prof. Dr. Murad Bavbek - Chairman of Turkish Neurosurgical Society (TNDer); ambassadors of Istanbul announced Istanbul’s victory to host the 2015 NO DIG Conference and 2017 WFNS – World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Congress respectively. Ambassadors shared details of their cooperation with ICVB and their experiences during the bidding process.