The 1st "Istanbul Balkan Tourism Fair" Opens Its Doors to Visitors...

The 1st IBTB "Istanbul Balkan Tourism Exchange Fair", hosted by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, with the main support of TÜRSAB and in cooperation with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Kültür A.Ş., organized by TÜRSAB Fuarcılık Hizmetleri A.Ş., has begun at the ICEC - Istanbul Lütfi Kırdar International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Speaking at the fair's opening ceremony, Müberra Eresin, President of TÜROB, the Association of Turkish Hoteliers, emphasized that for many years UNWTO - World Tourism Organization reports have stressed that the development of tourism between countries begins, as a priority, with neighboring countries, and that the ongoing tourism relations between our country and the Balkan countries confirm this view. TÜROB President Eresin continued in her speech: "The brotherhood between the peoples of Türkiye and the Balkan countries, together with their shared history and cultural heritage, as well as their geographical proximity, holds significant potential for tourism. We believe that the fair will make important contributions to the development of tourism relations between countries by further revealing this great potential. Türkiye has become not only a country that receives tourists from the region, but also one that sends a significant number of tourists. In the coming period, we anticipate that improvements in both transportation and visa conditions will affect tourism much more positively, and that, thanks to the positive perception created by the \"Istanbul Balkan Tourism Fair\", there will be positive reflections in tourism figures this year and in the years to come. As TÜROB, a participant in this important fair, we hope and expect that it will contribute to establishing tourism ties between the Balkans and other target countries and to further increasing mutual tourism volume."

Also speaking at the fair's opening were TÜRSAB President Firuz Bağlıkaya, Turkish Tourism Investors Association (TTYD) President Oya Narin, Edirne Mayor Recep Gürkan, and Deputy Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) Fikri Ataoğlu.

The fair, whose participants include domestic and international travel agencies, hotels, and city promotion offices, as well as TÜROB, will be open to visitors until Friday, September 22, 2023.<