The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism recently announced Hasan Zöngür as director of the Turkish Culture and Toursim Office and Zöngür tells Travel Agent that agents can expect to see a big push for travel to Turkey in 2007. "In January, we have a promotion budget of $4 million for media and television," he says. The Turkish Culture and Tourism Office hopes to attract more visitors by promoting tours focused on culture, religion and yachting. "Istanbul was the capital of three empires-Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman," Zöngür says, "and we have heritage from all these empires." Travel to Turkey also just got easier, as Turkish Airlines on Friday announced membership in Star Alliance, becoming the alliance's 21st carrier member. "Our goal is to become a global brand in the world aviation sector," Dr. Candan Karlitekin, chairman of Turkish Airlines, said in a statement. "We believe that we have an important place in the international competition. We are successfully earning a position to compete with the world's giants. We will add new aircraft to our current fleet of 101. In 2007, we will be the most important brand to represent Turkey in the world."
