Istanbul Shopping Fest aims for 1 million tourists

ISTANBUL

Istanbul Shopping Fest is being held between June 8-30. DAILY NEWS photo / Emrah Gürel

Istanbul Shopping Fest (ISF), which is being held between June 8 and June 30, is expected to draw 1.1 million tourists by spending around 500 million Turkish Liras.

ISF is being organized for the third time in Istanbul, one of the world’s leading centers of attraction for art and culture, entertainment and fashion, with civil society, private and public sector cooperation. “We expect tourists to spend 500 million liras over 23 days,” said ISF General Manager Füsun Tavus. She said around 940,000 tourists had visited Istanbul during the festival last year and they expected this number to reach 1.1 million this year. Tavus also noted that local expenditure was worth 7.5 billion liras last year.

Due to the country-wide protests, which began in Istanbul due to the Gezi Park dispute and spread all around the country, the program of the organization has been revised. Some events and concerts have been postponed.

Sponsors of the event from the outset, the Development Ministry, the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the General Directorate of Promotion, the Office of the Governor of Istanbul, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the Istanbul Development Agency, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Turkish Airlines and the Interbank Card Center are all backers of Istanbul Shopping Fest 2013 as well.