Bringing the congress, meetings and events sector together for the sixth time, the Ace of MICE Exhibition by Turkish Airlines was held Jan. 22-24 at Istanbul Congress Center.
For three days, more than 15,000 professional visitors had the opportunity to expand their networks with a quality hosted buyer program.
Many destinations such as United States, Europe, Middle East, Far East and Russia participated in the fair, which brought together industry professionals from all over the world in Istanbul. While the fair is organized by the Tourism Media Group, the main sponsor is Turkish Airlines.
Within the scope of the international hosted buyer program, 230 different incentive companies, PCOs, DMCs and corporate buyers participated from overseas markets with the support of Turkish Airlines as the main sponsor of the show. International professionals conducted B2B meetings as part of the program with the exhibiting companies of the show.
“The way to increase the number of tourists is to extend the season and increase the destinations,” says Turkey Travel Agencies Association Chairman Fariz Bağlıka. “The way we increase the income is to increase the foreign expenses of the tourists and the number of tourists in different segments. Our hotels in Antalya are not sold at prices far from world standards. We know this, and we do business abroad. We sell both Spain, Greece, Tunisia and Egypt at the same time.”
He adds: “We do not sell Turkey (as) not at all cheap. The place where the difference comes is obvious. Golf, cruise, health, sports, yacht, which we call niche segments. We are a bit behind in areas such as gastronomy and city tourism. We need to increase the investments here and the number of high quality hotels.”
The MICE sector plays a key role in increasing tourism revenues, Bağlıka notes. Research shows that those who travel in this segment, who do not have seasonal problems, spend almost three times that of mass tourism. The MICE sector captures the desired momentum for “international voice” that will transfer to Turkey, he says.
Tourism Media Group started its operations in 2007 with the goal of contributing to the development and growth of MICE industry. The company is integrating world MICE industry with Turkish market with its local & international partners and providing service as an umbrella organization of the industry. For more info, visit https://ameistanbul.com/media
