The reign of Spain is over, as Turkey and Egypt see boost in bookings
Britain's love affair with the Costas is cooling as the pound slumps against the euro - with holiday bookings down dramatically for next summer. Early figures suggest that the number of families choosing to head for Spain has fallen by 22 per cent. Ever since the birth of the package holiday more than 30 years ago, Spain has been the number one destination for sunseeking Britons. But the credit crunch, the falling value of the pound and budget flights offering cheap alternatives have resulted in a fall in visitors.

Turkey's trade volume up by 4.1 pc in free zones
Trade volume with the EU countries amounted 6.9 billion USD and the figure was 1.6 billion USD in trade with the OECD countries. Trade volume increased by 4.1 percent to 23.2 billion USD in free trade zones in Turkey in the first eleven months of 2008 over the same period last year, Undersecretary for Foreign Trade said.

Turkey Surpass 2008 Target in 11 Months
Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry announced beginning of year to host 25 million tourists. The 2008 target of tourist arrivals is surpassed in November. Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry announced that the number of foreigners arriving in Turkey in January-November 2008 was recorded 25,245,301 by 13,10 % increase when compared with the same period of previous year.

Foreign visitors to Turkey up 7.69 pct in Nov
ISTANBUL, Dec 24 (Reuters) - The number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose 7.69 percent year-on-year in November to 1.268 million, the Culture and Tourism Ministry said on Wednesday. Tourism is an important source of foreign currency for Turkey, which has a large current account deficit. In October the number of foreign visitors had grown 14.38 percent from a year earlier.

Multi closes Turkish retail fund
Multi Corporation, the Dutch based retail developer, has closed its Turkish retail property fund with investment from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The Multi Retail Turkey fund consists 21 completed, under construction or planned shopping centres across Turkey.

TURKEY: ?High Consumer Demand will Lead to Market Recovery?
Consumer demand in Turkey has not declined and still remains strong despite ongoing global financial turmoil, a fact that is likely to help domestic markets recover during the first few months of 2009, a poll conducted by Ipsos KMG, one of the world's leading survey-based marketing research firms, has shown. Ipsos KGM Turkey CEO Vural Cakir announced results of their "Expectations, Preferences and Choices 2009" report. The report was based on the company's annual poll, which was conducted Nov. 10-22 in 26 provinces throughout Turkey.

OECD head says Turkey will display successful peformance
OECD head said Turkey displayed a positive growth performance so far, indicating that it was natural that there would be drops in growth rates.

Turkish tourism numbers improve despite crisis
In the face of the negative effects of the global financial turbulence, Turkey's tourism industry has grown, attracting 14 percent more visitors this year than in 2007. "We are encouraged with the positive developments in the sector," Cavusoglu said. "There is not yet a big problem, and it is most likely that this year's winter period will also bring more opportunities to the Turkish tourism industry than in the past few years."

US ?Monster? the online job centre enters Turkey
Monster, the world?s largest online career firm operating in 52 countries with 5,000 employees, opened in Turkey. The U.S.-based firm renewed its Turkey Web site, www.monster.com.tr, within the framework of its "Developing Markets Strategy."

ING closes acquisition of Turkey's Oyak Emeklilik
ING, a global financial institution headquartered in the Netherlands, said Saturday that it has completed the transaction to acquire Turkish pension company Oyak Emeklilik. In June 2008, ING agreed with Oyak to acquire Turkey's sixth largest pension company for 110 million euros.

EDF Energies Nouvelles invests in Turkey
EDF Energies Nouvelles said it had bought a 50 percent stake in Turkish wind energy company Polat Enerji. No financial details of the deal were disclosed.

High-Speed Train Network to be Built Within Turkey and to Bulgaria
Turkey will be covered in a network of high-speed trains, including the rail route to Bulgaria. The project for a high-speed train on the route Halkali (Istanbul) ? Bulgaria will start next year, the online edition of the Hur Haber information agency reported today.

Number of International companies rises in Turkey
Number of International companies rises in Turkey The number of companies with international capital in Turkey increased three times in the last six years.

British giant meets Antalya companies
ANTALYA - One of the world?s biggest tour companies, Britain's Thomas Cook, will host 2,500 tour operators in Antalya as part of a project with its Turkish partner, the Diana Tour Company, in which the Antalya region and nearby tourist centers will be introduced to operators. A member of the Diana Tour executive committee, Burak Tonbul, spoke to the Anatolia news agency.

Turkish Airlines New Flights to Birmingham Starts
Turkish Airlines starts to operate Birmingham, England as of December 15th, 2008. Turkish Airlines keeps increasing its passenger figures by providing its customer with the benefit of wider network oppotunities and quality of service.