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Turkey’s Open air Advertisements Received
Adrian Awards
The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) presented the winners in its 53rd annual Adrian Awards at the Marriott Marquis in New York City on February 1, 2010.
The Adrian Awards honour the top companies and individuals in hospitality, travel and tourism advertising, public relations and web marketing. This year’s contest attracted nearly 1,100 entries from around the world, with entries judged by top executives from all sectors of the industry. Only 20 Platinum awards were given out.
As part of the “Unlimited Turkey” campaign, “Times Square Domination” for the Turkish Culture and Tourist Office, created by Istanbul based Öykü Advertisement Agency, and promoted by Global Advertising Strategies, received Silver award in advertisement category.
Global responded with the creation of “Times Square Domination,” bringing Turkey for the first time ever to the heart of Times Square with duelling digital displays on the 22-story Reuters sign and the 7-story Nasdaq tower wrap-around. With 19,200 sq. ft. of interactive power, vibrant true-life colours, and fast transitions, “Times Square Domination” towered over crowds below with a mix of video footage and image sequences promoting the diversity of Turkey’s offerings, from upscale experiences in Istanbul to ruins and natural wonders. The campaign saw foot traffic averaging 1.4 million people per day, running 180 daily for a full month. Interviews conducted at the site elicited responses such as, “I didn’t know Turkey offered so many varied adventures,” and, “I really want to visit NOW.”
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Turkish Dancers Perform in Paris Under
Turkish Season Activities
A group of dancers from the Turkish Opera and Ballet staged a performance "Güldestan" in Paris as part of the "Turkish Season" activities in France.
 Besides dance and music, the performance also includes elements of theatre, literature and photography. It depicts the theme of migration with photographs taken by leading Turkish photographer Ara Guler and texts by Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk and 17th century Turkish traveller Evliya Celebi.
The performance received a standing applause from French audience.
The performance was directed and choreographed by Beyhan Murphy with music by Mercan Dede.
The Turkish Season activities began in France in July with a show of the "Fire of Anatolia" dance group. The event aims at promoting Turkey in France with nearly 400 artistic and cultural activities in more than 70 cities for nine months. "The Ottoman Caftans" exhibition at the Louvre Museum and "Istanbul for Centuries" exhibition at the Grand Palais were the highlights of the activities.
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Turkey to host UN conference on
Least Developed Countries
After successful organizations such as the World Water Forum, IMF, now the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in which it decided to hold its fourth conference on least developed countries in Turkey in the first half of 2011.
 The conference will last for five days. The definite time and venue of the conference will be determined after consultations between the UN and Turkey.
High-level executives and representatives of private sector and non-governmental organizations of almost 49 least developed countries are expected to participate in the conference which will most probably take place in Istanbul.
 Participants will discuss ways to enable least developed countries to end poverty and achieve sustainable development.
Turkey hosted the ministerial conference of least developed countries on July 9 and 11, 2007.
According to UN data, 33 of the 49 least developed countries are situated in Africa, 15 of them in Asia and Pacific, and one (Haiti) in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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Great Interest to "From Byzantium to Istanbul:
one port for two continents" exhibition
"From Byzantium to Istanbul: one port for two continents" exhibition, which is organized by the Réunion des musées nationaux and Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts as part of the Season of Turkey in France (July 2009 – March 2010), drew great interest by art lovers.
 An average of 2,500 and a total of 241,233 art lovers visited the exhibition which is held at the Grand Palais from 10 October to 25 January 2010.
Byzantium, renamed Constantinople and then Istanbul, has always been a meeting place and a centre for cultural encounters. Its geographical location makes it both a continental and maritime crossroads, as confirmed by the excavations carried out in 2004 when the undersea tunnel for the future metro was being dug.
This chronological exhibition was set out the different stages in the city’s history.
The exhibition brought together around 300 objects from Turkish, French and international public collections. In conclusion, a special place was reserved for the Port of Theodosius which has recently been discovered at the Yenikapi site in the centre of Istanbul, where a station is being constructed for the metro which will link the European and Asian banks of the Bosporus.
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Turkey’s Tourism Continued to Grow in 2009
Tourism industry in Turkey continued to grow in 2009 by 2.81 percent despite a global economic recession which forced the global tourism industry to shrink by 4.3 percent.
 According to the report released by Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, over 27 million foreign tourists visited Turkey in January-December period last year.
Nearly 4.5 million German tourists visited Turkey in 2009 and Russia was the second country to send biggest number of tourists to Turkey with 2.6 million which was followed by Britain with 2.4 million visitors.
The report said according to figures of UNWTO, the number of tourists globally dropped to 880 million from 920 million in 2009.
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Independent Filmmakers are in Turkey
Turkey’s first and only festival dedicated to independent cinema; !fIstanbul, AFM International Independent Films Festival is taking place in Istanbul, February 11-21, and in Ankara, February 25-28.
 In partnership with the acclaimed US-based cinema website The Auteurs, this year the organiser will screen five of the festival's most sought-after films in 20 locations across Turkey and the Middle East concurrent to their weekend screenings in Istanbul. Many of these cities do not have cinema theatres. Those that do are often reliant on mainstream studio distribution of second or third run features.
Three of Turkey’s most exciting documentary directors will premiere their latest films during !f Istanbul 2010. The films shed light on pressing contemporary issues, from the tragic death of an Italian peace activist, to overdevelopment threatening the verdant Black Sea coast and the culture of a popular TV reality show.
Italian activist Pippa Bacca set out to hitchhike from Milan to Israel in a white wedding dress to raise awareness for global peace. Her journey was cut tragically short in Gebze, western Turkey, when she was brutally murdered. Director Bingöl Elmas dons a black wedding dress and takes up the journey where Pippa’s ended. Hitchhiking alone in trucks and minibuses across Turkey, she tries to make sense of why Pippa died. The resulting film “My Letter to Pippa” is a fascinating portrait of beliefs about men and women across a diverse region.
Talented director Rüya Arzu Köksal follows on from her acclaimed film The Shore, about the destruction of Turkey’s Black Sea coastline – one of the world’s most biovdiverse regions- with “An Argonaut in Ordu”. Her focus is Enis Ayar, an iconoclastic figure in Turkey’s protest culture since the late 60s. From a 100-km solo walk from Istanbul to Ordu, to a festival uniting all Turkey’s Beetles (and their owners) to raise awareness of coastal ecology, Ayar is a persistent thorn in authorities’ plans to urbanise his beloved Ordu, and an inspiration to everyone else.
In the same section, Fix the World, Doğa Kılcıoğlu’s “Married to the Camera” is based on Turkey’s most popular breakfast reality show “ Esra Erol’la İzdivaç”, in which couples are created and married off. Kılıcoğlu’s nuanced documentary looks at every aspect of the show, from its glamorous host, to participants who travel miles from rural Anatolia to take part and fans who crowd the studio entrance at dawn.
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Site Turkey’s first get-together for this year is organized
SITE (Society of Incentive Travel Executives), whose headquarters is in USA and is active in many countries all over the world also has its chapter in Turkey. Site Turkey Chapter had its first get-together for 2010 with its members on 18th January, Monday.
The get together was held at Dahill Restaurant inside Yildiz Park and was supported by TURSAB. The board of directors; in their presentation; pointed out their work since last year and shared the happiness of entering a new year with their new members.
The website, http://www.site-turkey.com/ which is now on air was also presented at the gathering and guests were asked to visit this address for any information regarding the chapter.
The board was also informed their members about the training which will be held on 5-6 February, 2010 at Point Hotel Barbaros targeting incentive travel industry's middle and top level managers. The content of the training will be "Effective Use of Time and Stress Management Skills".
Board Members
İlknur Çamaş (Visitur) - Site Turkey Chairman
Ali Ethem Keskin (Sipahiler) - Site Turkey Vice President
Serap Oğuztaş (Eventusta) - Site Turkey General Secretariat
Ersan Atsür (Oriontur) - Site Turkey Treasurer
Mehmet Binatlı (Motiva) - Site Turkey Membership Development
Feyhan Kapralı (Tekser) - Site Turkey Responsible at Education
Gülşah Bastıyalı (BST Events) - Site Turkey Communication
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Trekking in Turkey with
Kate Clow - New Long-Distance Trails
The Turkish Culture and Tourism Office are delighted to invite you to hear Kate Clow, author of The Lycian Way and St Paul Trail reveal her insights on these two marked trails she founded, as well as to unveil the new routes planned in Turkey, including the Evliya Çelebi and Yenice Forest routes.
 Hear the latest news on the various trails of Turkey, which offer opportunities for combined trek and adventure holidays, soft trekking for families and boutique places to stay across coastal trails, high mountain trails, trails following Roman roads, trails through old-growth forest, canyon trails and lakeside trails for all seasons.
Talk Highlights:
* Lycian Way: there will be a review of how this 10-year-old route has expanded and is now being served by over 150 tour operators
* St Paul Trail: this route, now 5 years old, which will be re-waymarked by volunteers and protected by the Turkish government;
* New routes: there will be a quick look at Turkey's new routes - the Evliya Çelebi Route (between Istanbul and Izmir); the Kaçkar and Yenice Forest;
* International routes in the planning stage: Abraham's route (Turkey to Jerusalem); The Sultan's route (Istanbul to Vienna); The Via Egnetia (Rome to Istanbul).
About the trails
Lycian Way This is a 500-km way-marked footpath around the coast of Lycia in southern Turkey from Fethiye to Antalya. Highlights include spectacular walks on the slopes of Baba Dagi beneath the flight path of paragliders; a stunning descent to Faralya above the cliffs of Butterfly Valley; the 12km beach at Patara; spectacular views over the coast from above Kas and Kalkan; the castle, harbour and sunken ruins at Ucagiz; the church of the Angel Gabriel in the hills above Myra; climbing Mount Olympos at 2388m; and the ruins of hidden Lycian cities set against the Mediterranean sea.
 St Paul Trail This 500-km long-distance footpath follows much of St Paul's journeys in Anatolia, which went onto become important Christian pilgrimage routes. It runs from Perge, 10km east of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast, to Yalvac, northeast of Lake Egirdir in the Turkish lakes region; a second branch starts at Aspendos, 40km east of Antalya, joining the first route at the Roman site of Adada. Highlights include the Aksu river crossing and waterfalls at Uçansu; the huge pines and firs on the route above Oren; the views from the route above the Candir canyon; the medieval paved road around Sarp peak; the beautiful village of Beydili; following a Roman aqueduct into Yalvac; and the ruins of Roman cities. It has been proposed that the route could be extended to Greece and Italy in the west and Syria in the east.
About Kate Clow Kate Clow first moved to Turkey in 1989 to sell computer systems, relocating to Antalya in 1992 when she started to explore ancient roads which linked the cities of the Greek and Roman periods. Since 1995 she has connected a series of paths to make Turkey's first long-distance walking route. The Lycian Way opened in 1999 and was followed in 2004 by the St Paul Trail. She then turned her attention to north-eastern Turkey and in 2008 produced a walking guide to the Kaçkar Mountains. Kate is also a freelance writer and leads trekking and bird and wildflower tours. Returning to the Lycian Way time and again, she finds it unspoiled and enjoyable though she's still dreaming of life on a self-sufficient yayla (summer house) in the mountains.
Recommended reading:
Lycian Way, Kate Clow & Terry Richardson, 1999 (3rd edition)
St Paul Trail, Kate Clow & Terry Richardson, 2004
The Kaçkar, Kate Clow, 2008
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Easyjet Increases Number of Its
Routes To Turkey To Eight
The EasyJet, one of Europe's low cost carriers, increased number of its destinations in Turkey to eight.
 The EasyJet Airlines said in a statement that it would commence direct flights between London's Gatwick Airport and Antalya International Airport on May 30, 2010.
The Gatwick-Antalya flights will take place three times a week on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Seats are on sale from January 21 which fares from 38.99 euro.
The other routes of the EasyJet to Turkey are London Gatwick-Istanbul, London Luton-Istanbul, London Stansted-Bodrum, London Stansted-Dalaman, Bristol-Bodrum, Liverpool-Bodrum and Basel-Istanbul.
Established in 1995, the EasyJet is a British airline company operating domestic and international scheduled services on nearly 500 routes between 104 European and North African airports. The airline primarily offers low cost point to point services but sometimes operates full service charter flights on behalf of other companies. The company served more than 46 million passengers last year.
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