Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç SoyerThe results of the intensive work carried out by İzmir for the development of tourism have begun to be obtained. After the first cruise that came to the city in April after a 6-year hiatus, another ship with a capacity of 5 passengers docked at Izmir Port. 200 more cruise ships will arrive in Izmir this year.
Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer's work continues to develop the tourism potential of the city. After the first of the cruise lines that will revive the city's economy, docked at Izmir Port in April, another ship arrived in Izmir on the second day of the Ramadan Feast. The ship, with a capacity of 5 passengers and a crew of 200, put a smile on the face of the business world and tradesmen in İzmir.
Departing from Istanbul, the ship's route after Izmir will be Bodrum, Mykonos, Piraeus, and again Istanbul, Iraklion, Rhodes and Kusadasi.
“We started to see the results of our Bronze President's efforts”
Hatice Gökçe Başkaya, Head of the Department of Foreign Relations and Tourism of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, who welcomed the second ship, stated that cruise tourism has become active again in the city after a 6-year hiatus and said, “The efforts of our Bronze President in this sense are very valuable and we have started to see the results of those efforts. The first ship arrived on 14 April. It was smaller capacity. Today, 3 May, the Costa Venezia ship is with us. For this, we made preparations both inside and outside the port and at the exit. Today, we enthusiastically welcome our new ship with our band and Zeybek team. We have free buses outside. Again, our paid open-top buses are waiting for our guests.”
Emphasizing that important steps have been taken for the development of tourism in İzmir, Gökçe Başkaya continued as follows: “We established our tourism offices within the framework of our President's tourism vision and made our İzmir map. We have free internet in the port. We have prepared our Visit İzmir application. Our guests can see more than 2 points in the city through Visit İzmir.”
“I congratulate all Izmir”
Yusuf Öztürk, Chairman of the Izmir Branch of the Chamber of Shipping, said, “We are very happy. We are doing everything we can to increase cruise tourism. The contribution of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and the unity in Izmir are important. In fact, we think that the same things should happen in other ports of Turkey. Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, Izmir Governor's Office, Izmir Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Guides, Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB) everyone who comes to mind should contribute to the soup. We achieved this. I congratulate all Izmir," he said.
Lifeblood for tradesmen
Semih Girgin, Chairman of the Izmir Historical Kemeraltı Artisans Association, stated that cruise tourism is a lifeline for tradesmen who are having a hard time, and said, “We have very high expectations. We are waiting for our guests in Kemeraltı together with our shopkeepers to do our part. We will host our tourists in the best way possible. We are very happy that new ships will come," he said.
İzmir Chamber of Commerce President Advisor Mine Güneş Kaya said that she found the coordination between the institutions in the city important and said, "If there was no cooperation, these ships would not have come."
Metropolitan staff on the field
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality also made preparations for the cruise. Employees of the Tourism Branch Office attended the Tourism Information Office at the port for the welcome. Tourism Information Offices in Pakistan Pavilion, Konak, Alsancak (Cinema Office), Kemeraltı and Hisarönü will serve between 13.00 and 20.00 in parallel with the ship arrival time. Two vehicles were allocated from İZULAŞ by the Tourism Branch Directorate. These vehicles provide free service between Port and Konak. In addition, the nostalgic tram in Kordon is free for tourists. 7 open-top buses also offer tourists the opportunity to tour the city for 30 euros per person. There are also Tourism Police teams formed under the Police Department in the port.
Contacts in Miami for the development of cruise tourism
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality continues its contacts for the development of cruise tourism in the city. The team, which also includes representatives from the Metropolitan Municipality, attended the fair and conference organized under the name of Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami between April 25-28 and made contacts to make İzmir a world-renowned destination. İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Advisor to the Mayor Onur Eryüce, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the İzmir Chamber of Shipping Yusuf Öztürk, Chairman of TURSAB Aegean BTK and İzmir Chamber of Commerce 41. Tourism, Travel Agencies and Car Rental Group Committee Chairman Kıvanç Meriç, İzmir Chamber of Commerce Chairman Advisor Mine Güneş Kaya and İZFAŞ Fairs Coordinator Batuhan Alpaydın, explained the advantages of the port city of İzmir in cruise tourism and held one-on-one meetings with international tour companies to include İzmir in new routes.
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