Ministry working to turn Cappadocia into major wedding destination

ISTANBUL

The Culture and Tourism Ministry is planning to turn Cappadocia, known for hot balloon rides and fairy chimneys, into a big venue for weddings and honeymoons, hoping to lure visitors from all around the world for such special occasions.

GoTürkiye, the country’s official travel guide, dedicated a special section on its website to Cappadocia, while hotels in the area are building wedding halls at their premises.

The ministry hopes to exploit Cappadocia’s huge potential to make it a favored destination for newlyweds and those who want to tie the knot in a unique place.

Cappadocia is already one of Türkiye’s major tourist attractions, yet the ministry believes the region has much to offer.

Last year, Cappadocia drew nearly 5 million tourists, according to data from the Tourism Ministry.

In the first seven months of 2024, some 600,000 people visited the Nevşehir-Göreme archeological site, while Paşabağlar, another archeological site, lured more than 530,000 visitors.

Göreme and Paşabağlar were the fourth and fifth most visited sites in Türkiye during this period.

Officials from the Tourism Ministry said that work is ongoing to promote Cappadocia as a major wedding destination.

Hotels are making necessary arrangements to offer their venues for countryside wedding ceremonies.

Officials are optimistic that a large number of people would want to have their weddings and spend honeymoons in Cappadocia.

The GoTürkiye website promotes Cappadocia, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, as one of Türkiye’s primary countryside wedding venues, beside İstanbul, İzmir and Ayvalık.

“Cappadocia guarantees a fairy-tale, rustic wedding,” it says, boasting about the region’s unique offerings, such as cave boutique hotels.

“Cappadocia is the perfect boutique country wedding destination for intimate and private weddings and for couples who dream of a wedding with a touch of fairy-tale magic,” says a promotion piece on the GoTürkiye website.

Hot-air balloons are available for other special occasions such as proposals, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and photo shoots, it adds.

“Underground cities, houses carved out of rocks, exclusive cave boutique hotels, delicious Anatolian cuisine accompanied by outstanding Cappadocia wine await honeymooners.”

Meanwhile, the Nevşehir Culture Road Festival, held from Aug. 3 to 11 this year, included a balloon fest as one of its highlights.

Some 60 balloons with different shapes from 18 countries, including the U.K., Spain, Switzerland, France, Brazil, Portugal and Poland, showed up at the event.