The most popular destinations within the country for Indian visitors have traditionally been Istanbul, Antalya and Bodrum and Cappadoccia (Photo: India Outbound)
Tourism from India to Türkiye has been booming since the end of Covid-19 as the country became one of the first and fastest growing destinations for Indian travellers in the post-pandemic era, mainly thanks to the ease of visa, relative proximity, good connectivity and of course competitive prices as compared with other European destinations.
The high growth rate has steadily continued as in the first five months of the current year Türkiye registered a healthy 34 pc growth in the number of Indian visitors, which stood at 126,000. The most popular destinations within the country for Indian visitors have traditionally been Türkiye’s commercial capital Istanbul, the Turkish Riviera cities of Antalya and Bodrum and Cappadoccia.
To sustain the growth further and to present new locations within the country to diversify Indian tourism and specially to attract repeat visitors, the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), in association with Türkiye Tourism and Turkish Airlines, recently mounted a week-long familiarisation trip for its members to Türkiye, which not only included visits to destinations, attractions, experiences and hotel inspections but also B2B meetings with several Turkish suppliers and Destination Management Companies to help expand the offer that the Indian agents have for travellers looking for novelties.
Riaz Munshi
“The objective of a fam trip is always educational. To update and showcase the product to the members so that they can sell it in a better way. Since the travel agents have now seen the product, they know what to sell and what not to sell, what they have to include additionally to what they are already selling. That is the reason we have shown these new places and destinations to them. I am sure that now everybody will try to push these new destinations and experiences to their customers and accordingly the number of Indian tourists to Türkiye will increase,’’ Riaz Munshi, President of OTOAI tells India Outbound.
Siddharth Khanna
“The objective of this fam trip was primarily the exposure for Indian travel trade to Türkiye and exploring newer segments and newer destinations apart from Istanbul and Cappadocia,’’ Siddharth Khanna, General Secretary of OTOAI, tells India Outbound.
Khanna explains the reasons behind the growth of Türkiye’s popularity in the Indian market. “Türkiye as a destination is extremely important for us considering the visa process for which Türkiye offers electronic visa and during season with the stress of the Schengen appointments, it is a prominent destination and it is an important European destination to go to,’’ Khanna adds.
Shravan Bhalla
According to Shravan Bhalla, Vice President of OTOAI, Türkiye is a well-rounded destination with a variety of tourism products and experiences that caters to a large segment of Indian travellers.
“Türkiye is a very unique destination which cater to all kind of clients where OTOAI members can create beautiful itineraries related to honeymooners’ market with a combination of Izmir, Cappadocia, Bodrum and Istanbul or for family travellers with inclusion of all-inclusive resorts in Antalya and beautiful sights of Cappadocia combining it with Istanbul. Türkiye also caters to special niche segment markets like catering to social events and destination weddings in beautiful and amazing locations and palaces,’’ Bhalla tells India Outbound.
Of the several destinations covered by the fam trip in Türkiye, the most popular one, almost unanimously, was Izmir (Photo: India Outbound)
Vinay Arora
Vinay Arora, Director, ATG Holidays agrees about the rising popularity of Türkiye. “The major reason of Türkiye getting popular in India, was ease of visa and that it has everything. It has beaches, nightlife, city life, mountains, amusement parks and everything that a traveller can look for. So, it is already very popular not just with my clients, but also among other travel agents that I discussed with,’’ Arora tells India Outbound.
Munshi’s and OTOAI’s objectives in mounting the trip seem to have worked as the 40-odd members of the Indian travel trade delegation that visited Türkiye were unanimous in the utility of the trip and its importance in helping them broaden the offer of Türkiye that they can sell their customers.
Chirag Agrawal
“We have been selling Türkiye for the last two years and we have primarily been selling Istanbul, Cappadocia and Antalya. But the places which we experienced in this fam trip like Pamukkale and Izmir, they were not part of our itineraries so far. So these new products are definitely something which we can introduce better in the market,’’ Chirag Agrawal, COO, TravClan, a B2B travel platform, tells India Outbound.
Monia Kapoor
“Also, as at TravClan we have lot of digital platforms to educate travel agents about new products, about how to build those products instantly through our quotation system. So the idea is that whatever we have seen during this fam trip, we will put it on our system from a marketing perspective and from sales perspective. So then there is output for the Türkiye Tourism Board,’’ Agrawal adds.
“I feel all the agents have come back very happy and they have got to see new places that they can add to their itineraries and bring something new to their clients. And they have got the opportunity to meet new partners. Hence, I feel this fam trip has been really successful and all the agents and members have gone back really happy,’’ Monia Kapoor, Joint Secretary of OTOAI tells India Outbound.
Inspiring Izmir
Of the several destinations covered by the fam trip in Türkiye, the most popular one, almost unanimously, was Izmir that turned out to be the biggest discovery of the tour for the Indian travel trade professionals.
“I don’t want to be biased but I think Izmir was a surprise. We never expected Izmir to be so great. I have already been to Antalya and Istanbul before, so Pamukkale and Izmir were the surprising elements. When it comes to Pamukkale I would rather recommend it as a stopover destination, but not for overnight. However, Izmir we would recommend for 3-4 nights,’’ says OTOAI President Munshi, who is also Chairman of N Chirag Travels, a Delhi-based travel firm.
“Normally people end up promoting Cappadocia, Istanbul and Antalya, while Izmir is only a transit point, for a connecting flight back. But after the fam trip I think one can easily use Izmir as 3-4 night destination as the main hub and you can cover Kuşadası, Çeşme and Ephesus, at a distance of within an hour or two,’’ says Khanna.
The Indian travel trade professionals say the meetings were very useful as it brought them in touch with new suppliers from Türkiye (Photo: India Outbound)
“Izmir would be a better option because accommodation options, I think are better in Izmir. Also Izmir has to offer like a proper city kind of an experience as it gives a more European feeling and more premium feeling. So from an experience point of view, I think it is a more sellable product. Practically for Pamukkale there will be inbound demand as it is very popular on Instagram. But I think infrastructure wise, it is not a very well suited product,’’ says Agrawal of TravClan.
Besides Izmir, Istanbul was also a popular city for the Indian delegates. “Two cities were my favourite. Istanbul is a must with a mix of nightlife, food, shopping, sightseeing and of course the Bosphorus Dinner Cruise. In Izmir, the main highlight was the Alacati Street which was showcased this time to the delegates,’’ says Bhalla.
Making business connections
On the last day of the visit, a networking session of B2B meetings was organised in Istanbul where the Indian delegation members had face to face meetings with numerous counterparts from Türkiye, including Destination Management Companies, hotels, attractions and representatives of companies offering other tourism-related products and services.
The Indian travel trade professionals say the meetings were very useful as it brought them in touch with new suppliers from Türkiye.
Guldeep Singh Sahni
“These meetings were very useful as we could meet many new suppliers. For instance, there were certain hotels that I met and I had never heard of them, but it was wonderful meeting them as now I know that we can use these for destination weddings and other large movements,’’ Guldeep Singh Sahni, Managing Director, Weldon Tours & Travels, tells India Outbound.
Not just Indian, but even the Turkish travel professionals were content with the B2B meetings.
Cengiz Kellekci
“It is always good to meet with the partners because it is a good opportunity to talk about new destinations and new business opportunities in Türkiye, which are growing and as facilities for Indian travellers are also increasing. For instance, we have more Indian restaurants with vegetarian food all over Türkiye. And we, as a company, provide Indian managers as well as Indian chefs here in Türkiye. So, if Indian visitors come to Türkiye, they will be happy and we will ensure that they feel happy and at home here,’’ Cengiz Kellekci, CEO and Founder of Chalo Türkiye, a local DMC in Istanbul that has been doing business with Indian agents since 2006, tells India Outbound.
Aysin Sezmis Kellekci is CEO and Founder of MICE in Türkiye, a local DMC specialised in MICE that has been handling between, 5-10 groups of varying sizes each month from India. Kellekci says that her company handles all the arrangements, with comprehensive packages.
Aysin Sezmis Kellekci
“Our major source cities are Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. We get regular traffic, for instance, we have one group of 70 passengers in September and another of 120 in October and we will organise all the activities from arrival right up to their departure from Türkiye. The Indian guests prefer to stay in very good five-star properties,’’ Kellekci tells India Outbound.
She says that the B2B meetings with the OTOAI delegates were very positive and helpful. “Yes, we see a lot of potential because they already work with Turkish market and they are they are quite familiar with our destination. We meet them every year, whether they come here or we go to India. And we are glad to have OTOAI members here because after seeing the destination they realise exactly how beautiful and attractive Türkiye is,’’ Kellekci adds.
With the Indian agents and Turkish DMCs equally enthusiastic about the business potential, 2024 could turn out to be another record year for Indian visitors to Türkiye, fulfilling the objective of OTOAI.
"
