In a meeting with Union Tourism Minister K.Chiranjeevi, Burak Akcapar, Ambassador of Turkey in India, raised the issue of enhancing air frequency for increasing tourist traffic between the two countries as existing flights cannot cope with the demand.
Turkey is an important inbound tourist source market for India. During the year 2011 a total number of 17329 tourists from Turkey visited India. Turkish Airlines is planning to spread its network in India with the possible code sharing with Air India. With an aim to attracting more tourists from Turkey the Ministry of Tourism is planning to carry out special promotions in the Turkish market this year.
The Turkish ambassador suggested that the Ministry of Tourism and Turkish authorities can undertake joint promotion to increase two-way traffic between India and Turkey.
A Bilateral Tourism Cooperation Agreement between India and Turkey was signed in 1995 in Delhi. The Agreement contains the provision for setting up a Joint working group. The first meeting of the India-Turkey Joint Committee on Tourism was held in Ankara on 27-28 May, 2002 and the 2nd meeting was held in New Delhi on 23rd Nov, 2006. The Ministry of Tourism proposes to convey 3rd meeting after March 2013 at the convenience of both the countries.
