During the recently held The Meetings Show, officials for the Istanbul (Turkey) Convention & Visitors Bureau (ICVB) and Istanbul Chamber of Commerce highlighted a new marketing and promotional online activity entitled the “Leading Congress Destination Istanbul” project.
Via a new website to go live in August, event organizers can learn about key characteristics of Istanbul, its tourism facilities, meetings and events spaces, its historical and natural beauties and modern convention centers. The presentation also highlighted the supporters and funding partners for the project.
“We generated a great deal of interest about both the destination and the project, which was confirmed by the more than 60 appointments taking place on our stand throughout the event,” said Elif Balci Fisunoglu, general manager, ICVB. “The quality of the hosted buyers were high, they were making enquiries at the event and looking to place business over the coming years. The whole experience clearly shows our investment is well-targeted and our marketing plans are having a substantial impact.”
Istanbul used The Meetings Show, which was held July 9-11 in London, as part of its campaign to raise the profile of the city through more effective advertising, promotional and marketing channels. In addition to more than 60 hosted buyer appointments, Istanbul also sponsored The Meetings Show’s press lounge, hosted a press lunch and was featured in several videos of the show.
Within the overall scope of the project, Istanbul is creating a destination film, congress tourism portal and promotional kit. Created around the needs of meetings organizers, event planners and visitors, the destination film includes dramatic aerial shots and highlights the city’s venues while brochures, maps and DVDs make up the promotional kit.
The congress tourism portal and destination film will be available in five languages: English, German, French, Spanish and Turkish. The preview English Language version of the destination film was launched at The Meetings Show.
The website highlights Istanbul’s historical and natural beauties, and the facilities it can offer the meetings and events industry. The website will include visuals and is designed to be detailed in content, easy to use, interactive and informative.
In order to make Istanbul a leading destination in the field of congress tourism and meetings organizations, The Tourism Development & Education Foundation, ICVB and Istanbul Chamber of Commerce started the Leading Congress Destination Istanbul project in October 2012. The Leading Congress Destination Istanbul project is part of the Istanbul Development Agency’s 2012 Financial Support Program. Istanbul first broke into the world’s top 10 congress destinations in 2010 and subsequently became the world’s no. 1 congress destination with more than 500 delegates in 2011 and 2012, according to the International Congress and Convention Association.
Boasting seven purpose-built convention centers and three exhibition centers large enough to accommodate even the biggest international fairs, Istanbul can easily accommodate large international congresses. With more than 89,000 guestrooms and 94 five-star and deluxe hotels, Istanbul offers meeting planners a variety of options, including top international and domestic hotel brands.
