Assessment 1: Factsheet on Istanbul

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Istanbul is a huge city with one fifth of total Turkey’s population. Istanbul is considered as

considerate and polite towards visitors, it is a hospitable and tolerant region. There are

number of social and historical attractions. It is considered as 5th most visited country in the

world with huge number of foreign tourists (Goturkeytourism.com, 2019). Well connectivity

in the region with direct flight in 57 countries, help in increasing its tourist visits. Istanbul

tourism shows rising trend, upward trend in Middle Eastern travellers, health tourism and

culture tourism. There is development of new attractions.

Total number of visitors

[ CITATION ktb19 \l 1033 ]

According to data international visitors are on rising trend, in the year 2009, figure was

27077114 and it reached to 39488401 in the year 2018. According to recent data 5.42 million

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international visitors arrived at city in initial four months in year 2019. According to data

largest numbers of visitors are from Russia, Germany and Lebanon region. Month wise

analysis states may to august encounter largest number of visitor arrivals (Anadolu Agency

2019).

Above diagram shows foreign visitor arrivals by nationalities.

Analysis of international visitor growth

There is 10.8 percent annual rise in tourism expenditure by domestic people. In the year 2019

total trip spending reach to 6.98 billion liras during first quarter of 2019. 107.6 million

Overnights are made by domestic travellers. Further analysis shows, major reason for visit

include meeting relatives (67 percent), travel, and leisure by 17.9 percent and remaining 6.6

percent for health reasons. In the year 2017, 36 percent of people visiting Turkey choose

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Istanbul as holiday destination. According to data, in 2016, Istanbul ranked third top

destination by overnight visitors.

Characteristics of accommodations options available

There are 51.483 operational licensed rooms in Istanbul in the year 2016. Average length of

customer stay is 1.6 nights, which is expected to rise to 2.1 nights per visitor by 2021.

Analyst states development boom in hospitality industry in Istanbul. Different type of

accommodations available include home stay, hotels which include one star to five star

categories basis on their facilities and price, hostels and apartments. Security is major

concern; however government is taking necessary actions. Hotel industry has invested in this

region and aim to develop infrastructure also.

Number of arrivals
5star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star
2% 1%
14%

52%
31%

Above diagram shows hotel preference by foreign travellers, majority of travellers prefer five

star properties (52 percent).

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 Number of arrivals
5star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star
1%
7%

14%

57%
21%

Further, domestic traveller also stays in five star hotels more in comparison to other

categories

Further, percentage of night spent by foreign traveller is more than domestic travellers.

Major hotel properties in Istanbul region include Fairmont Hotels Istanbul with 207 rooms,

Accor Hotels Ibis with 100 rooms and Golden Tulip with 169 rooms and Accor Hotels with

85 rooms [ CITATION Ear17 \l 1033 ]. Development in tourism help in growth of hospitality and

hotel industry, there is large amount of investments made in region for hotel and

infrastructure development and security enhancement.

Economic impact of GDP on location

Statistics reveal that tourism is a major contributor in GDP. Tourism helps in developing

country economic condition, it helps by providing foreign exchange earnings, and there is

rise in employment opportunities. Tourism also facilitate in export of local materials. Key

factors that impact income from tourism include different attraction to attract tourism, level

of economic and infrastructural development, connection between country’s industry and

service sector with global market. However, there are economic costs as well which include

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high dependence on tourism, increase in import. Tourism has direct impact on balance of

payment, employment opportunity and prices of products and services. According to data

total contribution of travel and tourism in GDP of turkey is 373.9 billion Turkish liras in year

2018, which is expected to reach 545.3 by 2028 [ CITATION www18 \l 1033 ]. Further analysis

shows, direct contribution of travel and tourism in country GDP in year 2018 was 122.6

billion Turkish liras. This industry is also contributing in creating new employment

opportunities, various other industry are dependent on tourism. In the year 2018, tourism

created 2.16 million job opportunities in the region, which is expected to reach 2.72 million

by 2028 [ CITATION www181 \l 1033 ]. Further, hotel industry is also benefited from tourism

growth as number of overnight hotel stay increased to 133.9million nights were spent at

tourist accommodation. Though government is working on developing new opportunities for

tourism, economists say there is need for diversification in this industry. There is opportunity

to build different type of tourism such as mountain tourism, spa tourism, golf tourism, river

tourism [ CITATION Kan16 \l 1033 ].

Main attractions types

Istanbul is full of cultural, historical and heritage attractions. Key historical attractions

include Topkapi Palace is a historical treasure; it was a palace of emperor of three continents.

Hagia Sophia Museum include unique work of art, it was a mosque earlier but now a

museum. Blue (Sultan Ahmed) Mosque is a 500 hundred year old mosque. Dolmabahçe

Palace Museum was an administrative centre of Ottoman Empire for a century. Archaeology

Museum includes wide range of amazing artificats regarding early civilization in the region.

Islamic Arts Museum includes artistic beauty by showcasing rugs woven years ago, there is

hand written Quran. Suleymaniye Mosque has unique view of Golden Horn and mouth of the

Bosphorus. Sabanci Museum is full of art and paintings from Ottoman period. Hagia Irene is

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the first church in Constantinople. Koç Museum presents wide range of innovations and

development in field of industry, transportation and communication. Istanbul modern is an art

gallery that showcase wide range of modern art. Basilica Cistern that provides information on

complicated system used to bring water in the region. Other renowned places include

Hippodrome, Maiden’s Tower, grand bazar, Miniaturk, Chora Church, Galata tower and

Hagia Irene [ CITATION ist18 \l 1033 ].

Istanbul represent true Turkish culture, there is presence of rich heritage properties, historical

sites and museums. There is incredible Architecture and Art from history to modernization,

showcasing development, industry also. Further, there is presence of both coast and beaches,

there is strong night life also to entertain guest. Therefore Istanbul is a mix and match of

different elements to make it perfect destination for tourists.

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Bibliography

Anadolu Agency. (2019, August 6). Turkish domestic tourism expenses up 10.8% in Q1.

Retrieved November 22, 2019, from hurriyetdailynews.com:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-domestic-tourism-expenses-up-10-8-in-q1-145556

Earnest and Young. (2017). Tourism Market. London: Earnest and Young.

Goturkeytourism.com. (2019). FAST FACTS ABOUT ISTANBUL. Retrieved November 23,

2019, from www.goturkeytourism.com: https://www.goturkeytourism.com/about-

turkey/facts-and-figures-about-istanbul.html

istanbultouristpass.com. (2018). Top tourist attractions in Istanbul . Retrieved November 25,

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istanbul

Kantarc, H. B., & Karakaya, U. (2016). The effect of tourism sector on Turkey economic

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Prague: Czech Republic.

ktb.gov.tr. (2019). Number of Arriving-Departing Visitors, Foreigners and Citizens.

Retrieved November 23, 2019, from www.ktb.gov.tr: https://www.ktb.gov.tr/EN-

153018/number-of-arriving-departing-visitors-foreigners-and-ci-.html

www.statista.com. (2018). Travel and tourism's total contribution to employment in Turkey

2012-2028. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from www.statista.com:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/644853/travel-and-tourism-employment-contribution-

turkey/

www.statista.com. (2018). Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Turkey 2012-

2028. Retrieved November 25, 2019, from www.statista.com:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/644846/travel-tourism-total-gdp-contribution-turkey/

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