Direct İzmir project, implemented by İzmir Foundation with the support of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality to increase the tourism potential of the city, was introduced at the Historical Coal Gas Factory. Minister Tunç Soyer, stating that they established the directizmir.com website where direct flights from Izmir to the world and from the world to Izmir are promoted, said, “We are committed to promoting the flights of all airline companies that offer direct flights from Izmir, in Turkey and around the world. We will be able to grow Izmir tourism despite the pandemic," he said.
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and Izmir Foundation President Tunç Soyer, in line with the aim of increasing the tourism potential of the city, has implemented a new project called "Direct Izmir". The directizmir.com website, which promotes direct flights from Izmir to the world and from the world to Izmir, was put into service with the partnership protocol signed by the Izmir Foundation and Corendon Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, SunExpress Airlines and Turkish Airlines.
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor attended the introductory meeting at the Historical Coal Gas Factory of the project. Tunç SoyerBuca Mayor Erhan Kılıç, Çiğli Mayor Utku Gümrükçü, Gaziemir Mayor Halil Arda, Dikili Mayor Adil Kırgöz, TAV Ege General Manager Erkan Balcı, Pegasus Airlines Sales and Network Planning Director Emre Pekesen, Corendon Airlines Commercial Director Mine Aslan, SunExpress Airlines Commercial Director Peter Glade, Turkish Airlines İzmir Sales Manager Ömer Uzun, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Mustafa Özuslu, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Secretary General Dr. Buğra Gökçe, bureaucrats of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, representatives of chambers and non-governmental organizations, ambassadors and consuls and many sector representatives attended.
Izmir will never fail this trust
Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer“Direct İzmir means one step closer for us to break the shell of İzmir and meet the world. If Izmir cannot break its shell, it begins to move away from its quality, vision and richness of being a world city. Therefore, the more İzmir breaks its shell and meets the world, the more it enriches its world city features. This is the most valuable meaning of this meeting for us.”
It aims to improve transportation opportunities in three steps
Stating that they came together for a project that will strengthen direct transportation alternatives to İzmir by air, Soyer said, “Our Direct İzmir project aims to improve direct transportation opportunities to İzmir in three steps: First of all, we aim to ensure that the flights that are on sale but have not yet reached the sufficient number of passengers can continue uninterrupted. In the second step, we aim to make İzmir a city that attracts tourists for 12 months of the year by spreading the direct flights only in the summer season throughout the year. In the third and final step, we aim to open new destinations with direct flights from Izmir. In this way, we are opening the door for visitors from different cities of the world to meet the natural and cultural heritage of İzmir.”
Izmir Airport will become a new center of attraction
Stating that they work in coordination with the stakeholders in Izmir to achieve all these goals, President Soyer said, “We act together with TAV, which adds value to SunExpress Airlines, Corendon Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, Turkish Airlines and Adnan Menderes Airport. This work, which will make Izmir Airport a new center of attraction, will contribute not only to Izmir but also to the tourism of the entire Aegean Region and our country. As of this month, scheduled direct flights to 49 domestic and international destinations are available from Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport. New destinations such as Beirut, Geneva, Milan, Skopje and Nantes will be added to these cities next summer. The protocol we signed today is a very important first step to increase the number of flights and destinations. With this protocol, we are committed to promoting the flights of all airline companies that offer direct flights from Izmir in Turkey and around the world.
All non-stop points can be seen in its most up-to-date form.
Emphasizing that they have established a website called Directizmir.com, which includes all destinations with direct flights from Izmir, President Soyer continued his words as follows: “Thanks to this site, our citizens will be able to learn all the points that can be flown directly from Izmir in the most up-to-date form and quickly. It is our duty to protect all institutions working to increase the welfare of Izmir. We stand by our airline companies that invest in İzmir until the end. Today, I am proud of taking Izmir tourism one step further with sure steps and together with all our stakeholders. Thanks to this partnership, I believe we will be able to grow Izmir tourism despite the pandemic.”
“We established Turkey's first reliable destination system”
Emphasizing that they continue to work with all their might to reveal the enormous potential of Izmir tourism, as he promised before taking office in his speech, Mayor Soyer said, “We published the Izmir Tourism Strategy at the beginning of 2021 with the partnership of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, Izmir Development Agency and Izmir Foundation. Now, whatever is written in this strategy, we implement it one by one with our city stakeholders. In this process, we became the first city in Turkey to establish the digital tourism infrastructure. We published the Visitİzmir mobile application and offered it to the people of İzmir, tourists and the industry. We have implemented Turkey's first reliable destination system, the Orange Circle hygiene certificate, to support the industry that has been deeply shaken by the pandemic.”
We will host the first ship in Izmir port in March.
Emphasizing that they have established a passenger drop off point for tour buses in Konak Square and opened tourism information offices in Alsancak, Kültürpark and Kemeraltı in line with the demands of the sector representatives, Mayor Soyer said, “The number of our tourism information offices will increase throughout İzmir in the coming months. We started the İzmir Heritage of the World program to make İzmir's natural and cultural heritage known on a world scale. Together with Kemeraltı, Gediz Delta, Genoese Castles and Birgi, the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in İzmir will increase from two to six. We are working with the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, TÜRSAB, İzmir Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Shipping, in order to make İzmir an important cruise port again. Years later, we will host the first ship in Izmir port in March. If there are no unexpected problems due to the pandemic, we aim to spend the year 29 to the fullest in terms of cruise tourism with a total of 2022 flights.
Aslan: An important step towards branding
Corendon Airlines Commercial Director Mine Aslan said, “We are aware of the importance of İzmir for tourism before tourism is important for İzmir. With this awareness, we continue our flights from Izmir, which we started in 2019, without a break, and we will constantly support the increase in this road. This website is a very useful platform for finding direct flights in Izmir. We wish this concrete step towards branding to be beneficial and auspicious for everyone. European tourists know very well the historical, cultural and natural beauties of Izmir. Our hope is that Izmir will become a holiday brand not only in Europe, but also in the whole world, in the place it truly deserves.”
All direct flights are easily accessible.
Pegasus Airlines Sales and Network Planning Director Emre Pekesen stated that İzmir is a very special city and said, “We organize direct flights from İzmir to many domestic and international cities. All direct flights from Izmir will now be easily accessible via directizmir.com. I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to this useful project, implemented in partnership with İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and İzmir Foundation. Our work continues at full speed to increase the number of flights we will make from Izmir in the near future.”
Glade: We will continue to support tourism
SunExpress Airlines Commercial Director Peter Glade said, “Direct İzmir is a very important initiative to increase the tourism potential of the city and for all airlines flying to İzmir, İzmir residents and guests who want to visit the city. As the main carrier of Izmir, we are the airline that provides the most direct flights from Izmir on domestic and international lines. This summer, we will have direct flights to Izmir from 17 destinations in 33 countries and 16 domestic destinations. As part of our growth strategy in Izmir, we will continue to support tourism by offering more flight connections, adding new destinations and increasing our capacity.”
Long: a motivational study
Turkish Airlines İzmir Sales Manager Ömer Uzun said, “I wish 2022 to be a year in which the negative effects of the pandemic will disappear. Hoping that our sector will also recover quickly with normalization, we believe that this organization will make a motivating and positive contribution to the sector in the first days of the year, and especially our Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality. Tunç Soyer I would like to thank the Izmir Promotion Foundation and all those who contributed, especially the Izmir Promotion Foundation.
Direct Izmir: 49 different points have up-to-date tariff information
directizmir.com website stands out as the only address where residents of Izmir can see direct flights. Users can see all the cities they can fly directly from Izmir to any point in the world via directizmir.com. As of the moment of its publication, the website, which contains up-to-date tariff information for a total of 26 different destinations, 23 cities abroad and 49 cities in Turkey, hosts many airline companies. With the summer season, new flights including Beirut, Geneva, Helsinki, Kiev, Kayseri, Milan, Nantes, Oslo and Skopje will be added to the site. Only scheduled flights are available on Directizmir.com. Apart from the flights mentioned here, travel agencies can be contacted to get information about charter flights.
directizmir.com was prepared in line with the expectations of the aviation industry, with the support of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, together with the institutions under the Izmir Foundation, airline companies and other stakeholders of the industry. With this project, which aims to facilitate direct transportation opportunities in Izmir by air, it is aimed to open new destinations with direct flights from Izmir, to increase the number and frequency of existing destinations, to spread seasonal flights throughout the year and to increase the awareness of the destinations with direct flights among Izmir residents.
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