More Indian tourists expected to visit Turkey this year: Ambassador

NEVŞEHİR - Anadolu Agency

An Indian festival planned to be held in Turkey is expected to attract more Indian tourists to Turkey, the Indian ambassador to Turkey has said.

Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency in the Central Anatolian province of Nevşehir, 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.

The Indian ambassador also spoke of rising interest of Indians toward Turkey’s southern resort 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 of India,” he said.

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

“Recently, one of our largest pharmaceutical companies 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.

Around 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.