Turkish tourism chiefs ready global campaign

Turkish tourism chiefs are preparing to launch a global campaign that highlights the country’s rapid economic growth as well as its heritage and tourist attractions.

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The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has called a $50m global advertising and marketing tender, asking agencies to pitch ideas. 

Dr Aysegul Gurgezoglu, a director at the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism UK office, told Marketing Week the body was consolidating its global marketing activity, including creative, media buying and digital, etc, into one agency account to help it coordinate its communications around the world.  

“We would like to have a strong campaign that promotes Turkey’s heritage and tourism attractions, plus we also want to make it a global project to emphasise our economic growth,” she adds. Most measures say the Turkish economy grew by an average of 5 per cent a year in the ten years to 2012.  

The Ministry is looking for a “global umbrella concept” encompassing all forms of media, with key elements of the eventual successful pitch likely to be its digital, especially social, facets as well as the overall creative idea, according to Gurgezoglu.  

Earlier in the year anti-government protests from secular parties calling for the resignation of Turkey’s Islamic-leaning Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spread around the country, with the ensuing confrontations resulting in a number of deaths, according to reports.  

Marketing Week asked whether the campaign brief and objectives would involve any potential negative perception of Turkey as a tourist destination post the Taksim Square protests.

Gurgezoglu responded: “The tender will be for the campaign of promotion of Turkey in terms of culture and tourism. We have this every year but this time with a global approach.

“Turkey continues to be one of the world’s most popular tourism destinations and in fact, the first 7 months of 2013 (January-July) indicate 10.68 per cent growth in international visitors year on year, reaching 19,143,152 visitors within this period.”

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