The chairman of the board of directors of Turkish Airlines (THY), Turkey’s flagship carrier, said on Sunday that as part of its promotional campaign, the airline will introduce the rich culture of the city of Kahramanmaraş, including its traditional sticky ice cream, popularly known as “Maraş dondurma”.
The promotion of Kahramanmaraş is being held by the company in cooperation with the Kahramanmaraş Municipality and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
As part of the program, Ahmet Bolat, chairman of the board and executive committee of Turkish Airlines, evaluated the company’s performance last year and its focus on boosting Turkey’s tourism potential.
Bolat revealed that the company’s passenger traffic in 2024 is 85.2 million, saying: “8.2 million of them are tourists. Considering that they will also return, this actually means 16 million. We estimate that the tourists we transport contribute $17.2 billion to the national economy.”
He also recalled that in 2003, Turkish Airlines had about 65 aircraft and carried 10 million passengers. He said that under the aviation vision of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Airlines now has hundreds of destinations from America to Asia, from Europe to Africa and the Middle East. He also announced that Turkish Airlines plans to expand its fleet to more than 500 aircraft this year.
“We are mainly talking about Turkey. Because it is very important for high-value tourists to visit Turkey. So far, we have carried out 108 advertising campaigns on six continents. These campaigns have reached 2 billion people,” he further explained.
“In this way, we are trying to increase the visibility of our country. The places in our country that are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List are very important,” he added.
Furthermore, stressing that tourism is more efficient than commodity exports, Borat continued: “Tourism contributes more to the national economy and creates more jobs. This also explains why we should focus on tourism with the Kahramanmaraş delegation.”
“On our long-haul flights, we will promote Maras ice cream in the category of local flavors. We will provide information about Maras ice cream and broadcast a video introducing Kahramanmaraş through our website.”
Maras ice cream is often considered the best ice cream in Turkey, known for its thick taste and solid appearance, and is usually made from goat milk. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it can be eaten with a knife and fork.
At the same time, Borat also explained that they will carry out a promotional campaign for Kahramanmaraş with the goal of reaching millions of people and mentioned the places where the promotion can be carried out.
“We are doing a promotional tour. We will promote Kahramanmaraş in China. We will invite influential figures. We will do a promotional tour from Hong Kong… We also plan to reach people from Taiwan and Australia,” he said.
“We are transporting 85 million people. In addition to these 85 million people, we will reach more people through our website,” he concluded.
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