Turkey

BOOK THIS HOLIDAY WITH ‘THE IMAGINATIVE TRAVELLER’ – HERE!

from GBP 740 for 9 days

Visiting: Turkey
A brilliant way to enjoy this welcoming country – visiting all the main highlights from cities to ancient ruins and incredible landscapes in little over a week.

Brief Description and details

Day 1 – ISTANBUL
Arrival day.

Day 2 – ISTANBUL – OVERNIGHT TRAIN
Today we take a walking tour of the old city, visiting the Blue Mosque, Aya Sophia and the Basilica Cistern. After dinner we board an overnight train to Ankara. (B)

Day 3 – ANKARA – CAPPADOCIA
On arrival in Ankara we visit Ataturk’s Mausoleum and then drive to the spectacular region of Cappadocia via the village of Hacibektas, home to Turkey’s Alevite population and named after the Sufi philosopher Haci Bektas Veli. (D)

Day 4 – CAPPADOCIA
Today we spend a full day exploring Cappadocia’s fascinating rock formations and underground dwellings. Travel on foot as well as by bus, through some of the more spectacular valleys, with lots of fantastic photo opportunities in this totally unique landscape. (B)

Day 5 – KONYA – PAMUKKALE
Drive to Konya, home of Whirling Dervishes, before heading on to Pamukkale. (BD)

Day 6 – PAMUKKALE
Visit the famous calcified falls (or ‘cotton castles’) of Pamukkale and the ancient city of Hierapolis before driving to Selcuk. (B)

Day 7 – EPHESUS
In the morning we visit the magnificent ruins of the ancient Ionian city of Ephesus. Free afternoon. (B)

Day 8 – ISTANBUL
Fly to Istanbul. The reminder of the day is free for some last minute exploring. (B)

Day 9 – ISTANBUL
Tour ends after breakfast. (B)

Key: (B) = Breakfast, (L) = Lunch, (D) = Dinner

BOOK THIS HOLIDAY ITINERARY WITH ‘THE IMAGINATIVE TRAVELLER’ – HERE!

Zurich, Switzerland –(PR.com)– The “Amrita Spa & Wellness” concept combines the Asian spa culture with Western influences and harmonises modern elements with the traditional Turkish bathing culture.

Visitors to the most exclusive spa in Istanbul can choose from a wide array of therapies and massages to help recharge their batteries or start their day full of vim and vigour at the Swissôtel The Bosphorus. A team of specialists, trained in Eastern and Western techniques and using exclusive products, pamper guests in the 14 treatment rooms. Treatments include advanced anti-ageing programmes, hot stone therapies, cellulite and beauty treatments, mud wraps, herbal and flower baths, saunas, detox programmes, hydrotherapy, watsu aquatic massages, and steam bath aroma-therapies.
In addition, the spa boasts a Turkish bath, a private Hamam for special events, a treatment room for couples, a spa suite with a private steam bath, sauna and Jacuzzi. Pilates, kinesis, gravity and yoga sessions are held outside on the lush hotel grounds. Indoor and outdoor swimming pools, Jacuzzis, tennis courts and solariums add to the array of facilities. Workouts are tailored to guests’ individual needs in the 800 m? fitness area. The Business Express Programme, assisted by a personal trainer, helps intensify the benefits of exercise and is designed in short stints to accommodate a busy schedule.

The Amrita Spa & Wellness at the Swissôtel The Bosphorus, Istanbul welcomes guests seven days a week from 7am to 10pm.

The Amrita Spa & Wellness at Swissôtel Grand Efes, Izmir serves discerning hotel guests as well as members from the local community. The full service Spa lies on 5’500 square meters and awaits its guests to enjoy a world of elegant wellness, invigorating aromas, international beauty treatments, and relaxing touches. Included in this paradise, there is a Presidential Wellness Suite for couples’ therapies, hydrotherapy room, a relaxation lounge, salt pool, private fitness training, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, traditional Turkish Hamam, sauna, steam bath and an array of therapeutic and beauty treatments combining Eastern healing and Western technologies.

Ayurveda forms an integral part of the wellness regime for the guests. From massages to the more rigorous transformations in lifestyle, the Ayurveda experience is designed keeping in mind the individual’s desire to heal, cleanse, relax and revitalize using a holistic approach. In the fitness area, where the members and guests can get fit with state-of-the art facilities, Amrita Spa & Wellness at Swissôtel Grand Efes, Izmir offers the latest cardiovascular and weight training equipments. Three fitness studios compliment mind and body experiences with a variety of classes presented on a regular basis in The Sweat Shop, The Breathing Space, and Spinning Studio.

“After operating the elegant Amrita Spa & Wellness at our Swissôtel Ankara successfully for more than two years, we are more than pleased to offer our guests the same outstanding experience in Istanbul and Izmir”, says Gerhard Struger, Regional Vice President Turkey & Eastern Europe at Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts. “Next summer our Swissôtel Göcek Marina & Resort will add a luxurious spa to its facilities – by then all four Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts in Turkey will offer the same outstanding level of Spa experience.”

Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC) has revealed that Turkey is its most successful international development market and now boasts the largest pipeline of any global hotel group. Over the next two years the company is set to more than double its Turkish estate, following the signing of 11 new hotel contracts in 10 months.

At a development event in Istanbul today, Patrick Fitzgibbon, Senior Vice President Development, Europe & Africa, Hilton Hotels Corporation outlined HHC’s future plans for the Turkish market and revealed that he anticipates the company will introduce more than 40 hotels from the Hilton Family portfolio across the country over the next five years.

Fitzgibbon explained: ‘Turkey has always been a special market for Hilton. Having had a presence in the country for over half a century, we are seeing increased demand for quality accommodation throughout the country – not just Istanbul – and are keen to capture a significant part of that!’

‘The country welcomes some 27 million international visitors annually, yet there are few international brands catering to these travellers, particularly in the country’s regional centres. Combine this with an extremely buoyant domestic market and it opens up huge potential for the expansion of our Family of Hotel brands. However, our agreements with Turkish property partners mean that we are well positioned to exploit opportunities in this exciting and dynamic market,’ added Fitzgibbon.

Under separate non-exclusive Strategic Development Agreements (SDAs) with two leading Turkish property partners, HHC is set to introduce 40 properties (comprising 5,500 rooms) from the Hilton Family of Hotels over the next five years.

‘We have made no secret of our ambitions to expand rapidly in Turkey and have formed strategic alliances with partners such as Amplio and Kosifler to enable us to accelerate our expansion plans and make a significant impact on the Turkish hotel market in a relatively short space of time,’ added Fitzgibbon.

Last December, HHC inked an SDA with Amplio to develop up to 15 hotels, and has signed management contracts for six Hilton Garden Inn properties so far. In addition to this, under a second SDA announced in June this year, HHC expects to develop 25 new properties with the Kosifler Group, and has already signed deals for a further four Hilton Garden Inn hotels.

Mike Collini, Hilton Hotels Corporation VP of Development for Northern Europe (including Turkey) believes that Turkey’s real attraction lies in the low penetration of international hotel brands in many regional cities across the country, as well as a relatively restricted choice of quality accommodation, particularly in the mid-market sector.

Collini explained: ‘Quality hotel supply is still incredibly low and not growing at sufficient levels to meet international and domestic demand, so we see a very real opportunity for us to introduce our extensive Hilton Family of hotels in Turkey. As one of the world’s leading mid market brands, Hilton Garden Inn provides us with a perfect vehicle to grow volume in these key city and regional locations very quickly.’

These deals will see the debut and rapid growth of the Hilton Garden Inn – the award-winning mid-priced brand that is part of the Hilton Family of Hotels – across the country, offering 10 properties in diverse locations including Istanbul, Sanliurfa and Bursa. The brand will launch in mid 2010 with the opening of the first two properties in the cities of Kutahya and Diyarbakir respectively.

This move also reflects the dynamic expansion of the Hilton Garden Inn brand across Europe, with six properties currently open with locations in the United Kingdom (Luton North), Germany (Stuttgart NeckarPark), Italy (Rome Airport, Florence Novoli and Matera) and Russia (Perm) as well as 19 hotels in the pipeline to open in Poland, Italy, Germany and Turkey over the next two years.

The company has earmarked Turkey – along with Germany, Russia, the UK, the Iberian Peninsula and Italy – as a key market for extensive development and growth through the introduction of the Hilton Family of hotels. The introduction of Hilton Garden Inn in Turkey, very much underscores HHC’s strategy to rollout its portfolio of hotel brands throughout key strategic markets, which given the relative absence of international branded properties in the local Turkish market, offers significant potential for growth.

As part of this strategy to grow the Hilton Family offering, Hilton has also entered into a franchise agreement with Gocay Tourism, Management, Investment, Transportation & Trade Inc. to open a new Hilton Worldwide Resort in Dalaman, on the south west coast of Turkey. Scheduled to open mid 2009, Hilton Dalaman Golf Resort & Spa will be the company’s first resort property to debut in the country. HHC also foresees further growth potential in this sector and is actively looking to secure other ‘high end’ opportunities to grow its resorts portfolio further.

To service the expected growth in this strategic market, Hilton operates a development office in Ankara and has appointed Pogda Demircan as Development Manager for Turkey.

Hilton has a long and established history in Turkey, opening its first hotel, Hilton Istanbul, in 1955. The company currently operates eight properties – seven Hilton hotels and one Conrad hotel – across six locations (Adana, Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Kayseri, Mersin)

Turkey hotel contracts signed to date:

Hilton Dalaman Golf Resort & Spa – Scheduled to open Q2 09 Gocay Franchise Agreement

HGI Diyarbakir – Scheduled to open Q2 10 Amplio Management Agreement

HGI Manisa – Scheduled to open Q2 10 Amplio Management Agreement

HGI Bursa – Scheduled to open Q2 10 Amplio Management Agreement

HGI Kutahya – Scheduled to open Q2 10 Kosifler Management Agreement

HGI Mardin – Scheduled to open Q4 10 Kosifler Management Agreement

HGI Sanliurfa – Scheduled to open Q4 10 Kosifler Management Agreement

HGI Istanbul Bostanci – Scheduled to open Q4 10 Kosifler Management Agreement

HGI Istanbul Golden Horn – Scheduled to open Q4 11 Amplio Management Agreement

HGI Corlu – Scheduled to open Q2 11 Amplio Management Agreement

HGI Corum – Scheduled to open Q2 11 Amplio Management Agreement