Istanbul Governorship with the partnership of Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism and with the contribution of TÜRSAB - Association of Turkish Travel Agencies and IRO - Istanbul Tourist Guides Guild launched a new website, www.howtoistanbul.com for sustainable tourism in Istanbul.

The launch of the website was announced with a conference at Kalyon Hotel in Istanbul.

Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, Deputy Governor Kazım Tekin, TÜRSAB Chairman Başaran Ulusoy, İRO Deputy Chairman Sedat Bornovalı, TUROB Chairman Timur Bayındır, TTYD President Murat Ersoy and invited journalists attended the ceremony.

Istanbul Development Agency financed the project which aims to increase the visibility of Istanbul in the virtual world.

TURSAB President Başaran Ulusoy stated that Istanbul became a centre of attractions in every field. Ulusoy underlined the importance of the "howtoistanbul" project by declaring that we are using "promotion, promotion, promotion" motto in contrast to Napoleon's "money, money, money" motto.

Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu reminding that we are living in the digital age said everyone gave hand to hand to promote the city on the internet.  Mutlu added that number of international arrivals to Istanbul reached to 10 million for the first time. Istanbul recorded a growth of 12% in number of tourist arrivals in the first 10 months of 2013 compare to same period last year. Mutlu said, number of tourist arrivals surpassed 8 million 900 thousand tourists in the first 10 months and they expect the number will exceed 10 million by the end of 2013.

Visitors to the “howtoistanbul.com” will get detailed information about touristical, cultural, social life, art in the city. Moreover, hotel and flight bookings, visa applications, and museum card can be purchased from the website.. The website is currently operating in English.