OTOAI, Turkish council sign MoU
The Council’s first initiative will be to organise a mega educational tour for all active association members to Turkey this September to promote bilateral tourism.
T he Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) has signed an MoU with Turkish Indian Tourism Council ( TITC) to promote bilateral tourism between India and Turkey. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the second OTOAI Convention in Bali between the OTOAI President
Guldeep Singh Sahni and Emin Cakmak, Chairman of TITC. Through this MoU, OTOAI will form an IndoTurkish Tourism Council with its members who can coordinate with members of TITC to promote tourism between the two countries. Both sides will meet regularly once every year to discuss ways in which we can collaborate and increase bilateral tourism this can be done, attracting investors from both sides in tourism industry.
As a surprise, Cakmak also announced a mega familiarisation trip for the association members. He said, “I am glad to announce that as the first initiative of signing the agreement, we will organise a mega educational tour to Istanbul plus one more city this September for all 200-plus active members. The program will be for three nights and three days where they will experience something new as repeat travellers. We have incorporated new products in this trip that will help the members offer something new to their customers and generate new business. It will serve as a new itinerary for repeat travellers and it will all be hosted by TITC members Istanbul to Istanbul.”
Responding to this, Sahni said, “We are moved by this gesture and the kind of support that we are getting from TITC. We have worked with many other associations before but it’s different with this association. We have a great bonding between OTOAI and TITC.”
Cakmak added that the itinerary will also include rides on luxury yachts and gulets in the Aegean Sea in Turkey. “We will negotiate with Turkish Airlines for airfare. We will tackle every issue you face in Turkey as we have since the last 10 years,” he added.