Turkey expects more Indian tourists this year

By Behcet Alkan

NEVSEHIR, Turkey (AA) - An Indian festival planned to be held in Turkey is expected to attract more Indian tourists to Turkey, Indian ambassador to Turkey said.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency in the central Nevsehir province, Sanjay Bhattacharyya said: “We are hoping to add another dimension to help [improve] tourism and cultural contacts [with Turkey].”

“We plan to host a week-long festival of India in Turkey,” Bhattacharyya said, adding that the festival would attract more Indian tourists to Turkey and more Turkish tourists to India.

Indian ambassador also spoke of rising interest of Indians toward Turkey’s southern holiday province of Antalya and the country’s cultural capital Istanbul.

“Antalya is becoming a wedding capital for some of the very big Indian weddings that happen outside India,” he said.

Bhattacharyya continued: “Istanbul has recently emerged as a very favorite destination for corporate holidays.”

“Recently, one of our largest pharmaceutical company sent 3,500 people to Istanbul for a week. They are all staying in the hotels, going around the Bosphorus and visiting the beautiful sites,” he said.

Approximately 200,000 Indian tourists, the ambassador said, are coming to Turkey yearly.

This figure is expected to rise as Turkey is becoming more popular among Indians every passing day, according to Bhattacharyya.