Turkey’s recent surge in tourist arrivals will be acknowledged by the World Travel Awards at a special VIP ceremony that will take place in Turkey on September 2nd.

Antalya - Turkey’s most popular port of entry for international visitors - will be the location for the World Travel Awards Europe ceremony for the second year in a row. This year, the Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa will step up to host the prestigious event – dubbed by the media as the ‘Oscars of the travel industry’.

The luxurious Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa – which was named Europe’s Leading Luxury Resort at last year’s awards - is located next to the beautiful beach of Iskele Mevkii.

The glittering Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa, host of this year’s WTA Europe ceremony

A distinguished line-up of travel industry professionals, senior executives from renowned travel companies, and hoteliers representing Europe’s leading hotels, as well as media from 60 countries are expected to attend this prestigious ceremony when winners will be recognized for their outstanding achievements.

(Europe’s travel elite celebrate top honours at the World Travel Awards 2010 Europe Ceremony - the “Oscars of the travel industry” will be returning again this September)

Turkish Airlines picked up the award for “Europe’s Leading Airline Business Class” at last year’s ceremony after posting record profits, in the midst of a global expansion.

And there was even more good news for the Turkey, which also walked away with “Europe’s Leading Meetings & Conference Hotel” for Rixos Sungate, “Europe’s Leading Tourist Board” for the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office and “Europe’s Leading Destination” for Istanbul.

(The incredible Mardan Palace, Europe’s most exclusive resort)

Mardan Palace took home four awards at last year’s ceremony and has been nominated in nine categories this year including: Europe’s Leading Luxury Hotel, Europe’s Leading Luxury Resort, Europe’s Leading Presidential Suite, Europe’s Leading Resort, Europe’s Leading Spa Resort, Turkey’s Leading Beach Resort, Turkey’s Leading Hotel, Turkey’s Leading Lifestyle Hotel and Turkey’s Leading Spa Resort.

Commenting on their triumph last year, the general manager revealed: “I think we deserve it - we have only been open for one year and three months and the property is still a baby, but now we are ready to run.” He added: “There is no property like this anywhere else in the world.”

For an exclusive glimpse inside Mardan Palace, Europe’s most expensive hotel, costing $1.65 billion to create, visit virtual-mardanpalace.com.

Other destinations that will host the regional awards – which will culminate in the Grand Final at the end of the year - include Dubai, Jamaica, Sharm El Sheikh and Bangkok.

The choice of World Travel Awards hosts for 2011 reflects destinations that have dug deepest in adversity and are now spearheading the global travel and tourism recovery.

(Rixos Premium Belek - host of World Travel Awards 2010 Europe Ceremony)

Turkey’s incredible resilience and forward-thinking attitude has led to Antalya earning these hosting rights to the World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia Ceremony

Turkey tourist arrivals climb

The number of foreign visitors to Turkey increased 5.49 percent on an annual basis to 4.60 million in July, markedly slower than the 8.02 percent growth recorded in June, according to figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute last month. In May, the annual rate of growth was 4.28 percent.

In the January-July period, the number of tourists grew 10.64 percent year-on-year to 17.62 million, of which 5.62 percent were excursionists - accounting for 6.75 percent of the total tourists visiting the country during July 2011.

When split into nationalities, Germans were the top nation visiting Turkey making up 14.7% of guests in January – June, followed by Russian tourists who made up 11.4% followed by British tourists at 7.4%

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that Turkey is currently the eighth most popular holiday destination for people travelling from the United Kingdom, with over 1.8 million people visiting the country in 2010.

He added: “Cheap holidays to Turkey allow everyone to get a taste of all that this great area has to offer. Turkey holidays are incredibly popular at the moment and it is very easy to see why.”

(Istanbul sunset)

Antalya  remains the most popular port of entry to Turkey during the first half of 2011, while 27 percent of tourists used Istanbul as a gateway to Turkey.  Turkey expects to host some 30 million foreign tourists in 2011.

Turkish Airlines see passengers soar

Turkish Airlines’ - which has been nominated for Europe’s Leading Airline and Europe’s Leading Airline Business Class at this year’s World Travel Awards, has reported a surge in passengers as well as an increase popularity in their acclaimed business class product.

Compared to the same period of last year, the number of passengers carried by Turkish Airlines increased by 10%, to 14,8 million, while business class passenger increased by 14%, reaching to 581 thousand.

These results are testament to the fact that Turkish Airlines sustains to grow and increase its’ market share, in such an environment where the level of competition is intense.

Travel professionals from all sectors of the European travel and tourism industry will gather at the Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa on September 2nd to find out which organisations will triumph at this year’s glittering World Travel Awards   Europe ceremony.

Antalya.City.Mobi for everything to do in Turkey’s tourism jewel

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(Antalya - Turkey’s most beautiful city)

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