Istanbul hosts global tourism summit targeting $116M trade volume

The fourth edition of GlobeMeets kicked off in Istanbul on Thursday, drawing over 3,000 tourism professionals from more than 50 countries for a B2B networking event projected to generate over $116 million in commercial volume.

Global industry converges on Istanbul

The two-day gathering opened at Rixos Tersane Istanbul under the theme "Meeting Point Beyond Borders," drawing 1,000 buyer travel agencies, 200 exhibiting companies, tourism offices from 11 countries and nearly 20 global airlines. VFS Global served as the main sponsor, while the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies acted as key partner and Azerbaijan participated as the country partner.

Organizers discarded the traditional fair concept to focus on a business-oriented networking model, expecting to facilitate more than 25,000 B2B meetings including 11,000 planned appointments and 15,000 organic networking contacts.

Officials underline strategic importance

Istanbul Governor Davut Gül stated that the city serves as a strong international trade and connection hub in addition to its role in tourism and culture. He noted that Istanbul's air transportation reach holds strategic importance for opening up neighboring countries, as well as Türkiye, to world markets.

Turkish Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Nadir Alpaslan highlighted Türkiye's position in the global tourism market and emphasized the contribution of B2B platforms to the sector's sustainable growth. He pointed out that Türkiye rose to become one of the top four tourism countries in the world, with approximately 64 million visitors and $65 billion in tourism revenue.

Networking platform targets 2027 season

GlobeMeets co-founder Hüseyin Kurt stated that they aim to be a strong international B2B networking platform that uses technology but keeps humans at the center. He added that a single meeting held within two days could be the start of the most important collaboration of the coming years.

Strategic agreements signed at the event will determine the vision map for the 2027 tourism season, with participants expecting to establish global partnerships beyond the targeted €100 million trade volume.