CATHIC’s speaker lineup features expertise in regional and international hotel development, finance, hotel branding and operations.
ISTANBUL – Prospects for foreign investment in Turkey’s burgeoning tourism and hospitality sector will be under the spotlight at the upcoming The Turkey & Neighbours Hotel Investment Conference (CATHIC) to be held in The Marmara Taksim, Istanbul, 29-30 May.
During the last decade, foreign investment in Turkey’s tourism and hospitality industries reached record levels, averaging close to US$10 billion per year and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is quoted as saying that the country will soon be among the top recipients of foreign direct investment, much earmarked for infrastructure improvements.
Daniel Thorniley, president of DT-Global Business Consulting GmbH, a Vienna-based consulting company that focuses on business strategy in global and emerging markets, believes the region will provide foreign investors with huge opportunities across all lodging categories. He is a keynote speaker at CATHIC and will discuss how Turkey and its neighbours have maintained a positive outlook, creating an attractive base for foreign investment despite Europe’s economic slowdown.
Another CATHIC speaker, Omer Isvan, president of Servotel Corp., a Turkish-based consulting firm specialising in hospitality and real estate projects, is also optimistic about Turkey’s tourism and hospitality sectors.
“Unlike most of the top 10 tourism countries in the world – apart from China – Turkey’s natural tourist assets outside of the Antalya coast are still largely untapped,” he said. “This provides the potential for substantial growth representing real numbers in increased traffic.
“Figures shows that even if the country’s growth stays on par with the average worldwide pace of 3.9 per cent per annum for the foreseeable future, some 12,000 rooms additional hotel rooms would be needed each year at full occupancy or around 20,000 at average occupancy, without accounting for the equally healthy growth in domestic tourism,” Isvan said.
He cited competitive labour costs, a young workforce, the competence of construction trades and real estate value, all of which make Turkey attractive to outside hotel investors.
Trevor Ward, managing director of W Hospitality Group, a hospitality consulting firm based in Lagos, Nigeria, said Turkey is attracting a cross section of inbound travellers including those for including business, leisure, meetings, incentive travel, events, religious, medical, adventure and extreme sports.
“Outside of the main centres, notably Istanbul and Ankara, there are cities lacking branded hotels and therein lay investment opportunities,” he said.
The event also will feature sessions offering perspectives by industry experts including Marty Kandrac, managing director, Blackstone; Eric Danziger, president & chief executive officer, Wyndham Hotel Group; Geoffrey Breeze, executive director, World Travel & Tourism Council; Wolfgang Neumann, president & CEO, The Rezidor Hotel Group; and Mehmet Onkal, managing partner, BDO.
CATHIC is organised by Bench Events and Questex Media, which also manages the Russia and CIS Hotel Investment Conference, Arabian Hotel Investment Conference, International Hotel Investment Forum Asia Pacific and International Hotel Investment Forum Berlin.
Photo caption: Turkey is attracting a cross section of inbound travellers including those for business, leisure, MICE, religious, medical, and adventure and extreme sports, according to Trevor Ward, Managing Director, W Hospitality Group.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
