Turkey draws more people wanting to wed
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Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 01, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Turkey is becoming a hot new destination for wedding tourism, with many people from Arab countries and Greece choosing to come to Istanbul to get married.
In response to this interest, Turkish travel agencies have initiated exclusive promotional campaigns to draw a larger share of this type of tourism. People from Arabic countries such as Jordan and Lebanon, as well as Iranian citizens, choose Turkey largely because of their exposure to Turkish soap operas filmed at Istanbul mansions alongside the Bosphorus.
Daughters of wealthy Middle Easterners wait in line to get married at the mansion where "Gümüş," a popular soap opera, is shot. Others prefer Çırağan and Dolmabahçe palaces, for similar reasons. Last year, around 100 such weddings took place in Istanbul. Greeks, in contrast, are often drawn to Istanbul because they consider it a holy place. Niks Organization is one of the professional companies handling wedding tourists’ needs, from transportation and accommodation to restaurant reservations, decorations and music. The company arranged 65 weddings last year, 22 of them involving foreign couples.
Package-tour offerings boost demand
Meryem Gürel, the founding partner of Niks Organization, said the trend of marrying abroad is quite common in Europe and the United States. However, Gürel said, "the tourist profile preferring Turkey is mostly Arabs and Greeks." The company is preparing new wedding packages to try to increase the number of couples coming to Turkey for their weddings, an effort that has brought in customers from Belgium, England, Ireland, and, lately, Russia. Although prices vary, the most economic option costs 40 euros per guest, Gürel said. Niks Organization aims to turn the Kuşadası-Bodrum area into a wedding-tourism destination such as Cuba, or Las Vegas in the United States.
The cost of a wedding with a Bosphorus view ranges from $50 to $200 per guest. With approximately 500 guests attending a typical wedding, the business is an attractive one for hotels. Neslihan Özyiğit from the Marmara Group said just one of its properties, the Esma Sultan Mansion, hosted more than 100 weddings last year, 25 of which were between foreign couples. The contribution of wedding tourism to the economy does not end in Istanbul, Özyiğit said, noting that the newlywed couples often visit southern parts of Turkey for their honeymoons.
Çırağan Palace is another popular location for weddings. Feyza Yücefer from Çırağan Palace said a quarter of the weddings the building hosted last year were between foreigners, and that they are already taking reservations for the year 2010. Though the demand has not decreased with the global economic crisis, Yücefer said, less glamorous weddings are preferred these days.
There is also a demand for wedding tourism from Turkish couples who want to marry abroad. Travel-agency officials said Asia, particularly the Far East, is popular these days because of the fear of swine flu in the West. Couples who may have preferred America or the Bahamas as a wedding location now fly to India and Sri Lanka instead. Wedding packages abroad include location choices ranging from castles in Scotland to the white beaches of Indonesia. Cem Polatoğlu, the chairman of the acting board of Barracuda Tours, one of the companies offering such packages, said marrying abroad is a newly rising trend among Turks. Tours are organized for countries including Egypt, India, Lebanon.
Daughters of wealthy Middle Easterners wait in line to get married at the mansion where "Gümüş," a popular soap opera, is shot. Others prefer Çırağan and Dolmabahçe palaces, for similar reasons. Last year, around 100 such weddings took place in Istanbul. Greeks, in contrast, are often drawn to Istanbul because they consider it a holy place. Niks Organization is one of the professional companies handling wedding tourists’ needs, from transportation and accommodation to restaurant reservations, decorations and music. The company arranged 65 weddings last year, 22 of them involving foreign couples.
Package-tour offerings boost demand
Meryem Gürel, the founding partner of Niks Organization, said the trend of marrying abroad is quite common in Europe and the United States. However, Gürel said, "the tourist profile preferring Turkey is mostly Arabs and Greeks." The company is preparing new wedding packages to try to increase the number of couples coming to Turkey for their weddings, an effort that has brought in customers from Belgium, England, Ireland, and, lately, Russia. Although prices vary, the most economic option costs 40 euros per guest, Gürel said. Niks Organization aims to turn the Kuşadası-Bodrum area into a wedding-tourism destination such as Cuba, or Las Vegas in the United States.
The cost of a wedding with a Bosphorus view ranges from $50 to $200 per guest. With approximately 500 guests attending a typical wedding, the business is an attractive one for hotels. Neslihan Özyiğit from the Marmara Group said just one of its properties, the Esma Sultan Mansion, hosted more than 100 weddings last year, 25 of which were between foreign couples. The contribution of wedding tourism to the economy does not end in Istanbul, Özyiğit said, noting that the newlywed couples often visit southern parts of Turkey for their honeymoons.
Çırağan Palace is another popular location for weddings. Feyza Yücefer from Çırağan Palace said a quarter of the weddings the building hosted last year were between foreigners, and that they are already taking reservations for the year 2010. Though the demand has not decreased with the global economic crisis, Yücefer said, less glamorous weddings are preferred these days.
There is also a demand for wedding tourism from Turkish couples who want to marry abroad. Travel-agency officials said Asia, particularly the Far East, is popular these days because of the fear of swine flu in the West. Couples who may have preferred America or the Bahamas as a wedding location now fly to India and Sri Lanka instead. Wedding packages abroad include location choices ranging from castles in Scotland to the white beaches of Indonesia. Cem Polatoğlu, the chairman of the acting board of Barracuda Tours, one of the companies offering such packages, said marrying abroad is a newly rising trend among Turks. Tours are organized for countries including Egypt, India, Lebanon.