Turkish Delight

The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) has welcomed a delegation of Turkish international officials to Northern Ireland as part of study visit for the board members and senior management of KUDAKA, the Northeast Anatolia Development Agency.Organised by TEAM Tourism Consulting agency, the group included provincial governors, city mayors and heads of major NGOs in the three provinces of Erzurum, Erzincan and Bayburt who are using the visit to gain valuable insights into a number of regional development topics.

The delegation of 20 senior officials visited two of NITB’s Signature Projects – the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site in Co. Antrim where they had a hard hat tour of the new visitor centre followed by a tour of the new £90 million Titanic Belfast visitor attraction.

The visit concluded with a presentation by NITB on the development of the five Signature Projects this year in Northern Ireland which also include Saint Patrick and the Christian Heritage, the Mournes and the Walled City of Derry.
NITB’s Titanic Belfast Project Manager Aine Kearney gave the visitors a warm welcome.

“We are delighted that this group of senior officials from Turkey took the time to visit Northern Ireland and learn more about our exciting signature projects,” said Aine.

“2012 is a massive year for tourism in Northern Ireland and this trip gave our visitors a fantastic opportunity to sample some of our amazing projects which are coming to fruition including Titanic Belfast and the new Giant’s Causeway Visitor centre.”
One of the high profile visitors, Mr Sebahattin Ozturk, Governor of Erzurum and the head of Executive Board of KUDAKA, was very enthusiastic about his first visit to Northern Ireland.

“The development of new tourism attractions is a high priority for Northeast Anatolia, just as it is for Northern Ireland, so it is of great interest for our group to understand how Northern Ireland, under NITB’s leadership, has set about the task,” said Mr Ozturk.

“Northeast Anatolia needs to develop some major “Signature Projects” based on the region’s cultural and natural heritage. In this respect, the Giant’s Causeway and Titanic projects are truly inspiring and informative for the whole group,” he added.
Dr. Rifat Altan, the Secretary General of KUDAKA, explained that they have been very pleased to see innovative tourism projects in Northern Ireland and thanked the Signature Project managers for hosting excellent familiarisation visits and for their kind hospitality.

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