Turkish Airlines Signs Deal With VisitBritain

Turkish Airlines signed an agreement with VisitBritain on Monday to make the U.K. the "hit destination" in 2016. The campaign primarily seeks to attract tourists to the U.K. from India and Gulf countries.

The global marketing agreement targets bringing more international passengers to the Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh airports as well as London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Turkish Airlines already flies to 284 zones in 113 countries across the globe, and set India as a focus for its 2016 targets in cooperation with VisitBritain in order to increase the value of tourism exports to the U.K.

Two parties held a meeting at the British Consulate General in Istanbul, where the cooperation publicity meeting hosted Turkish Airlines Deputy Director General Ahmet Olmuştur, VisitBritain CEO Sally Balcombe, as well as the U.K.'s Ambassador to Ankara, Richard Moore.

Olmuştur defined the agreements as an "exciting collocation" between the two companies, expecting a significant contribution in terms of visitor numbers.

The U.K.'s numerous regions will be discovered thanks to the cooperation, Balcombe added, stressing that the global flight network would offer growth in rising Asian and Middle Eastern markets.

Moore said the close relations in different areas from science and innovation to the economy, and said: "The VisitBritain program enlarges Turkish Airlines and provides a direct contribution to Turkey's economic development through a strategic partnership."