Turkish Airlines: The New Global Turkish Icon
Turkish Airlines (Türk Hava Yolları), Turkey’s national air carrier, was founded with only five airplanes in 1933. The last 10 years has marked a turning point in the company’s 78 year old history with impressive profitability, annual growth rates and service quality, transforming it into a successful global Turkish icon.
Today, Turkish Airlines has the youngest fleet of Europe with a total of 155 cargo and passenger planes, flying to 150 destinations around the world and qualifying it as the Europe’s third largest airline carrier. It carries about 25 million passengers per year. In 2011, Turkish Airlines is planning to start flying to 11 new international destinations as part of its successful growth policy. Some of these new destinations include, Valencia and Malaga in Spain, Toulouse in France, Washington DC and Los Angeles in the U.S. and Shiraz in Iran. Turkish Airlines also doubled the number of its flights between Istanbul and New York and is now flying twice a day between these two cities.
In addition to adding new routes, Turkish airlines is also opening new offices around the world, as part of its global expansion policy, in an attempt to directly reach its local markets instead of working with sales agencies. The carrier recently opened a new office in Empire State Building in New York and will soon be opening another new office in India.
The last two years have been incredibly successful for Turkey’s national flag carrier. In both 2009 and 2010, Turkish Airlines was awarded as Southern Europe’s best airline carrier. In addition, Turkish Airlines was given the third best airline of Europe award, as well as the prestigious four star status in all supervision categories. The company announced 389 million Euro profit in 2009, the third highest among national carriers globally in that year. According to its Chairman Hamdi Topcu, Turkish Airlines aims to reach a revenue of USD 8 billion and to own 165 planes by the end of 2011, a target originally set for 2015. Because of the addition of new destinations, the company decided to raise its capacity over its initial projections.
Turkish Airlines’ new global marketing campaign
During this period, Turkish Airlines launched a new worldwide advertising campaign,signing long term contracts with well-known international superstars, naming them as the company’s “Global Ambassadors” and using them in worldwide public relations activities and promotional films to promote the company, Turkey and Turkish culture.
Kobe Bryant Turkey Ad
In 2010, Caroline Wozniacki, the world’s number one ranked tennis player, signed a three year contract with Turkey’s national airline carrier, naming her the face of Turkish Airlines’ Business Class. This deal was followed by a two year contract with Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant. The famous NBA superstar will serve as the face and image of Turkish Airlines and the Republic of Turkey in international commercials that will be aired in more than 80 countries. This deal with Bryant came at the same time with the announcement of the new direct flights between Los Angeles and Istanbul by Turkish Airlines.
Turkish Airlines signed partnership contracts with famous European soccer clubs Barcelona and Manchester United, as well as with ULEB, the consortium of Europe’s top professional basketball leagues from 18 countries. To become the official sponsor of Barcelona and Manchester United, the Turkish air carrier paid USD 16 million and bought the rights to use both teams’ names and players in its commercial and public relations campaigns, and to put its advertisements in both teams’ home fields. Turkish Airlines will also be flying both teams and their equipment. On the other hand, ULEB’s Euroleague was named as Turkish Airlines Euroleague, as part of this €15 million name sponsorship and strategic deal with ULEB. In addition to all this, Turkish Airlines is also currently the official sponsor of the Turkish National Soccer Team and the Greek basketball team Maroussi BC. The sponsorship agreement with Maroussi BC was signed in March and will be valid for one and a half years. It will enable Turkish Airlines to add its logo in Maroussi’s jerseys and to the sidelines of its home field.
Turkish Soap Operas Draw Thousands to Istanbul
- Turkish Gümüş became a hit in Bulgaria
The staggering popularity of the Turkish soap operas in Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans draw thousands of Arab, Bulgarian, Iranian and Greek tourists to Istanbul. Tour operators organize special tours to the venues in wealthy neighborhoods of Istanbul, where the series are filmed.
The overwhelming popularity of the first Turkish soap opera ” Yabancı Damat ” (Foreign Groom) in Greece in 2005 was followed by Dubai-based MBC’s interest in Turkish soap operas. Now, 18 different Turkish series are watched by millions in 22 different countries from Kazakhstan to Algeria, increasing the interest for Turkey and the Turkish culture.
“Perla” (i.e. “Pearl”) – the name of the most popular Turkish soap opera in Bulgaria so far (known in Turkey as Gümüş) – was the number one word Bulgarians entered in Internet search engines in 2009.
Secret Turkey: Six Hidden Holiday Spots
Published in the Times on February 20, 2010
Annabelle Thorpe
Talking Turkey’s lesser-known delights, from a hillside Turkish village to a car-free island
FARALYA
Twenty minutes beyond the bling and bright lights of Oludeniz (Fethiye), the hillside village of Faralya feels like another world. The road winds along beside the sea before climbing vertiginously and snaking around the edge of Butterfly Valley, a sheer-sided gash in the mountain with a beautiful, boat-accessible beach at the bottom.
Faralya is the sort of village where the shops are still vine-clad shacks offering pide (Turkish flatbreads) and çorba (soup), and there’s a giddy, merciful lack of neon.
A good range of places to stay includes simple backpacker pensions to a couple of stylish boutique hotels (don’t let this put you off, there really isn’t much else). The Lycian Way, a long-distance walking route, runs through the village and there are other waymarked trails from its center.
There’s good kayaking potential and it’s worth keeping an eye out for dolphins — a local pod has taken a shine to Faralya’s quiet waters and often glide by in the mornings and evenings.
SELIMIYE AND SOGUT
The western side of the Bozburun peninsula is a world away from the busy beaches and bright lights of Turunc and Icmeler (Marmaris) on the eastern side. One road weaves its way up the coastline through sleepy hamlets such as Selimiye and Sogut, where simple waterfront restaurants serve fish caught each morning.
There is little to do here but laze by the sea, watch the sunsets and stroll up to one of the restaurants for dinner, so hiring a car to explore inland is a good idea. The peninsula offers some good walking and the small village of Bayir, with a delightful church and shady tea garden, is worth a visit.
If you’re looking for a lazy beach day, head for the eastern side to the long sandy bay at Kumlubuk where there’s a chic beach club, open only to Exclusive Escape guests. A scattering of wild and untended ancient sites — Amos, Loryma and Physkos — adds to the overall unspoilt feel.
AKYAKA
While not completely off the mainstream track, Akyaka retains a beautiful, tranquil feel, mostly because of its riverside location. It also remains a favorite destination of holidaying Turks, who come to eat at the fish restaurants, with terraces on the banks of the river, and to walk through pine woods to the small beaches.
The beach, ideal for young families as the water is shallow and clear, has a few low-key bars and restaurants. Akyaka is also ideally located for exploring the more authentic side of Turkey; 40 minutes over the mountain lies the regional capital of Mugla, with a delightful old quarter and one of the best markets in the area (on Thursdays).
Forget Turkish delight and apple tea, buy wrought-iron lamps, hand-dyed fabrics, and fresh fruit and veg before stopping at one of the roadside cafés for the best chicken kebab you’ll ever taste.
SOVALYE
The bay of Fethiye is one of the most beautiful parts of Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, and staying on a car-free island surrounded by mountain scenery is an unforgettable Turkey experience. Sovalye, ten minutes across the water from the busy resort town of Fethiye, has one small hotel and a clutch of private residences dotted between the sand and shingle coves.
Staying here is about living at a slower pace: pottering around the tracks that criss-cross the island, paddling over submerged houses and city walls in a canoe and exploring the remains of a Crusader castle. Fethiye has a delightful old quarter, with great restaurants.
BEZIRGAN
Once an atmospheric, pretty fishing village, Kalkan has grown into a big resort and, although the old town retains its charms, it’s a place to dip in and out of rather than to stay put in. Take your lead from the local people and stay in Bezirgan, an unspoilt farming village about 15 minutes’ drive inland.
It’s a world away from the bright lights and busy streets of Kalkan: ramshackle cottages, lush farmlands and quiet lanes, watched over by forest-clad mountains. There’s no luxury , but if you want a real sense of escape, and to watch local people going about their lives as they have done for centuries, this is the place to be.
There’s only one place to stay — Owlsland, run by Erol, whose farm has been in the family for generations, and his Scottish wife, Pauline. The rooms are rustic, the breakfasts hearty and days are filled with walking, lazing with a good book or hopping into your hire car for the short journey to the stunning beach at Kaputas, or Kalkan itself. Blissful.
ORTAKENT
The long peninsula that stretches from the busy resort of Bodrum has remained surprisingly unspoilt. The sparkling coastline is scattered with small, bougainvillea-clad villages that mix simple agricultural cottages with elegant villas, the holiday homes of Turks from Istanbul and Izmir.
Ortakent, in the middle of the peninsula, has one of the best beaches in the area, separated from the village by a strip of market gardens, lush with fig, mandarin and olive trees. It is known for its tower houses, built in the 17th century to defend the village. It’s easy to spend a week here, reading and lazing on the beach and trying out the different restaurants. But if you fancy the bright lights, Bodrum is only a short dolmus ride away.