Destination Development and
Institutionalization Strategies
In the OIC Member Countries
91
• ICVB collaborated with How to Istanbul 293 and Istanbulu Seyret 294 which are two websites developed
by Istanbul Development Agency Fund that provide tourists with detailed information regarding their
trip.
• Social media tools are actively used by ICVB to organize photography contests.
b) The Role of DMOs in Terms of Destination Development
Turkey provides a highly attractive set of incentives for tourism investors and players such as renting public
lands for up to 49 years, low cost funding up to 20 years, and extra permissions for foreign worker limits.295
According to the Global Top 20 Destination Cities Index of Mastercard, Istanbul was the 8th most visited
city in the world competingwith cities like London, Paris, New York, and Singapore. Istanbul had a revenue
of $7.5 billion from 12 million visitors in 2016.296
The latest infrastructure project completed is the Marmaray (a metro line connecting Europe to Asia under
the Bosphorous). Projects under development include Istanbul’s third airport (which will be the biggest
airport in the world, hosting 150 million passengers), and the new metro lines, which will extend to up to
1.000 kilometers by 2019.297
Meetings Go Green in Istanbul Project: While hosting the 5th World Water Forum in 2009, ICVB launched
the Meetings Go Green in Istanbul Project, putting environmental concerns at the forefront of its agenda,
given that environmentally responsible practices have been one of the most important considerations for
congress tourism organizers in terms of their decision making.
ICVB, teamed up with the Istanbul MetropolitanMunicipality, the Governorship of Istanbul, Bureau Veritas
and the Turkish Hotels and Investors Association (TUROB), to launch “The Hotel Greening Project” to
introduce an environmental agenda to local hotels by encouraging them to employ environmentally
friendly strategies.
The twenty-six hotels that volunteered to participate in the Hotel Greening Project were audited according
to the measurements of energy efficiency, water conservation and waste management practices, among
other criteria. Hotels attaining a minimum standard received a certificate fromBureau Veritas and the GFI.
Top performers in specific star categories received the “Green Steps Award”.298
Belek DMO
Belek Tourism Investors Union (BETUYAB) is a private local DMO, managing tourism at Belek district of
Antalya. Belek was a swamp area full of mosquitos when BETUYAB DMO had just been established 29
years ago. Now it is a world class success story with almost 2 million visitors and the world’s top trending
golf destination with 200 thousand golf travelers arriving annually from 63 countries.
Thirty years ago, Belek, a 17-kilometer seashore region in Antalya, in south western Turkey, consisting of
two villages, was an area of reed and swamps full of mosquitos, and zero tourists. This changed after
293 The official website of Istanbul. (2018). Retrieved from
294 İstanbul'u Seyret. (2014). Retrieved from
295 Travel & Tourism (p. 41, Rep.). (2013). ISPAT. doi
INDUSTRY.pdf
296 Global Destination Cities Index (1-63, Rep.). (2016). Mastercard. Retrieved from
content/uploads/2016/09/FINAL-Global-Destination-Cities-Index-Report.pdf
297 İstanbul’a 5 Yeni Metro Hattı Daha [Web log post]. (2017, April 20). Retrieved from
298 Green Istanbul. (n.d.). Retrieved fro