News from Turkey

Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Turkish Airlines announce a codeshare expansion following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two airlines.

Swiss International Hotels & Resorts announced the signing of a boutique hotel in Istanbul, Turkey. The hotel will be located near popular tourist attractions of the city such as Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque and the Spice market.

East Mediterranean International Tourism & Travel Exhibition (EMITT) will take place at TÜYAP Fair, Convention, and Congress Center between January 30 - February 2, 2020.

SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, has officially opened the doors to its seventh branded lounge in Istanbul, adding to more than 790 members’ and affiliated lounges worldwide.

The Uzakrota Travel Summit 2019 is set to connect the biggest companies with the brightest minds and professionals of the travel industry around the world in Istanbul on December 13, 2019.

The new air route, which was launched in August 2019 between the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (an exclave of Azerbaijan) and Turkey, named "Friendship Corridor".

SunExpress, a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, is celebrating its 30th year in aviation and tourism this year.

The 24th General Assembly of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB) is held last weekend in Istanbul, where the President of TÜRSAB; Firuz Baglikaya re-elected as the President for the second term.

Accor's luxury brand; Sofitel Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of its first property in Istanbul, Turkey. The first Sofitel hotel in Turkey, Sofitel Istanbul Taksim officially opened in early November in Taksim Square.

The American Turkish Society's signature cultural event, the New York Turkish Film Festival will take place between December 12-15, 2019 at the SVA Theatre in New York.

Istanbul-based AtlasGlobal, named Atlasjet until 31 March 2015, announced that it temporarily stopped operating flights for almost a month as the company has suffered a number of financial difficulties in the past few years.

Following highly successful events in Dublin (2017) and Rwanda (2018), the SITE Executive Summit took place in Turkey from 14 – 17 November drawing 120 incentive travel professionals to Istanbul to re-ignite the flame of incentive travel.

Turkey’s national flag carrier Turkish Airlines will launch scheduled flights between Istanbul Airport (IST) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) next year.

The 24th East Mediterranean International Tourism & Travel Exhibition (EMITT) will once again host tourism professionals along with holiday consumers at Tüyap Fair, Convention, and Congress Center in Istanbul, Turkey.