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under construction into service in the first half of obtained. They want to enhance their relationships
this year. We are working to increase the share of with Istanbul even more. As the Metropolitan
maritime transportation in overall transportation. Municipality, I would like to emphasize that we are
We thoroughly evaluated this issue with the and will continue to support all organizations that
Marine Workshop that we organized. The 24-hour will provide contributions to our city.
uninterrupted transportation that we have realized
on national and religious holidays, in addition to the ■ There is a concept called ‘’city of exhibitions and
weekends, has made a significant contribution to congresses’’ that emerged in the world. Exhibitions
our city, especially in the culture, art, entertainment not only improve the city commercially in which
and tourism sectors. This was an urgent need for it is organized but also in terms of economy and
Istanbul, where city life continues almost 24 hours. tourism. Since large exhibitions of this scale bring a
Both our citizens and the tourists who came to visit significant tourist intensity, the infrastructure of the
our city were very pleased with this application. city, transportation and accommodation facilities
Speaking of which, I would like to express that our should be sufficient. What are your suggestions
citizens have intense demands for Marmaray to be and projects about Istanbul being a city of
included in this system. The decrease in time spent exhibitions and congresses?
in traffic will make a great contribution not only to Unfortunately, Istanbul does not get the share it
exhibition tourism but also to the overall tourism deserves from tourism compared to other cities in the
industry, including congress tourism. world. For this reason, one of our first actions as the
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality was to establish
‘‘AS THE ISTANBUL METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY, the tourism platform. This platform carries out its
WE WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT ALL KINDS OF activities with a transparent, fair and participatory
ORGANIZATIONS THAT PROVIDE CONTRIBUTIONS approach in which all peers and partners of tourism
TO OUR CITY’’ participate. We decide on our tourism projects here.
■ Istanbul occupies an important position in terms recognition. Istanbul is in contact with many parts We aim to put Istanbul tourism in the top 3 in terms
of exhibition organization due to transit flights and of the world because of the background of its of the number of visitors and the top 10 in terms
visa exemption. As a matter of fact, because of the historical, cultural, national and spiritual values. of income, worldwide. We attach great importance
difficulties of obtaining a Schengen visa, citizens of The aforementioned countries are the countries that to congress tourism. Istanbul once captured the
countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran, we have good friendship relations from the past first position in congresses with more than 500
and Iraq, who cannot attend or encounter troubles to the present. We want to develop city diplomacy participants and the second position in congresses
in attending exhibitions in Europe, can easily and establish good relations not only with these with more than 300 participants, but the city couldn’t
participate in exhibitions in Istanbul. What kind of countries but also with many countries in the world. keep its seat. The point we are in today is not
activities can be performed in order to bring more During my trips to Europe, I saw that Istanbul heartwarming at all. In the first place, we want to get
visitors to Istanbul from these geographies? received a great favor for the victory of democracy in the list of top 10 cities in the world in congress and
Exhibition organizations are held in cooperation with exhibition tourism. Of course, our ultimate goal is to
exhibition organizers, central administrations and have in the first place as before.
the local government authorities. Istanbul possesses
an advantageous position due to its availability ‘‘WE WILL EVALUATE THE INVESTMENTS TO
for transit flights as well as its high international IMPROVE EXHIBITION TOURISM WITH ALL
STAKEHOLDERS
■ The exhibition sector, which we name as the flue-
free industry, makes a significant contribution to the
national economies. For example; approximately
10 million people visited the exhibition organized
in Germany in 2018. Between the years 2014 and

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