On a recent mission to Turkey, a delegation from Cape Town Invest and Cape Town Tourism met with Turkish Airlines’ Vice President of Sales for Africa, Hikmet Mesut, to push for more volumes and value in passengers and cargo.

The airline recently started flying its B787-9 Dreamliner to Cape Town, the first African city to welcome the aircraft. “While in Istanbul, we engaged with a few of their tourism-related service providers to discuss more possible connections,” said City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee member for Economic Growth, James Vos.

He told Tourism Update: “Following back-to-back meetings with Turkish local government and business leaders, I’m proud to share that we have agreed to outcomes that will positively impact Cape Town’s trade and tourism-related sectors.”

Vos pointed out that, during these meetings, the delegation committed to promoting the respective destinations through tourism exchanges, likewise for the events and exhibitions sectors, and influencing decision-makers to ensure there were more direct flights between Turkey and Cape Town.  

“It was then on to Izmir, with whom Cape Town has signed a sister city agreement. There we met with the Izmir Chamber of Commerce and my local government counterparts, the Director of Urban Economy and Innovative Industries, Ceren Umay; and the Director of International Events and Tourism, Uǧur Sülün. We also met with our Honorary Consul of South Africa in the city, Tamer Taşkin, who introduced us to several businesses looking to invest in Cape Town,” said Vos.