SESSION 4C: Turizm 359

Congress Tourism in Turkey: SWOT Analysis and Related

Strategies
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Orhan Akova (Istanbul University, Turkey)
Ph.D. Candidate Mehmet Emin Baynazoğlu (Yeni Yüzyıl University, Turkey)
Abstract
Congress tourism is one of the most developing tourism sectors around the world and in Turkey especially
for the cities who are forming its needs. Congress tourism creates higher revenues, provides cities and
destinations to spread their season and ensures product differentiation. Turkey has great potential for congress
tourism as the cities of Istanbul, Antalya and Izmir present great opportunities for the planners of congresses.
The number of congress visitors increased from 443.000 in the year of 2006 to 750.000 in the year of 2010 and it
continues to increase. Also goverment gives continuous support to the investments for congress tourism. This
paper outlines current situation and analyzes congress tourism in Turkey. In order to analyze congress tourism in
Turkey a SWOT view has been taken into consideration. Depending upon SWOT outputs, some relevant
strategies for congress tourism in Turkey were discussed.
JEL code: L83

1 Introduction
Tourism is one of the most important industries by means of creating employment and generating revenues.
Right after the Second World War people have started to travel a lot more than before. Life standards were
getting better, disposable incomes of the household were becoming higher, spare times for long vacations were
also possible. Mainly because of these reasons, especially citizens of developed countries have started to travel
all around the world. Air transportation has also gained significance, right after the foundations of International
Air Transport Association, (IATA) in 1945 and International Civil Aviation Organization, (ICAO) in 1947.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) data, in 2009, 210 million people are employed
in the Tourism industry and 5.5 billion US dollars were generated which makes the 9.4 % of the Global GDP
(Sariisik et al 2011).
The meetings, incentive travel, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) industry is one of the fastest growing
segments of the tourism industry in the world today,( Kim et al 2003) and has now become a global industry,
with as many as 252 countries vying for a share of this lucrative market. During the last ten years, the total
number of international meetings (including convention and exhibition) held worldwide grew from 5186 in 2000
to 8294 in 2009, representing a growth rate of 60%. Asia was the continent ranked as the third in the number of
conventions held there in 2009, just after Europe and North America (ICCA, 2009; Yee-ManSiu et al 2012).
Turkey is an attractive destination with its historical sites, cultural background, prosperous museums, unique
ancient sites, Turkish Riviera and natural beauty. In the last two decades, Turkey increased its tourist arrivals
from 5,3 million to 31 million and reached the revenue of 22 billion US dollars. Turkey was in 17th place in the
world according to the number of tourists, however in the year 2010 it has risen up to 7th place.Turkey was in
12th place according to the tourism revenues in 2002. But, in 2010 it stands in the 9th place. Due to the figures
mentioned above, Turkey became one of the most important tourist destinations in the world. Turkey ranked 10th
on the world tourism destination chart (www.icec.org). Turkey has competetive advantages with its natural
resources, historical places, younger population and hospitality. Turkey may upgrade its tourism revenues with
its fascinating attractions and may also increase its share in the world tourism revenues.
Turkey started to provide a variety of tourism alternatives in the last few decades. Therefore people may find
chance to make a lot of different tourism activities such as sports, health, culture, eco-tourism and congress
tourism. Congress tourism is one of the most distinguished tourism alternatives among others. It has been
accelerated especially in the last two decades of the 20th century, and started to provide huge revenues by
creating great opportunities for employment at the same time. Comparing with its rivals Turkey has a great deal
of attractions for its visitors. Congress tourism revenues equal to more than 25 % of total tourism revenues.
However, despite of Turkey’s all above mentioned advantages; it only gets the 10 % of total revenues (Ersun et
al 2009).
This study aims to evaluate Turkish congress tourism in an analytic way that displays strengths-weaknesses
and opportunities-threats and rediscovers the appropriate strategies which may be suggested.

2 Literature Review of Congress Tourism

Conference, congress and also convention terms are generally used reciprocally in the literature, depending on
the region or author’s preference. And also many terms presently used in the congress tourism are based on Latin
360 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EURASIAN ECONOMIES 2012

terms, for example ‘conference’ is originating from the Medieval ‘conferentia and ‘auditorium,’ from ‘auditorius.
(Whitfield, 2005). Congresses are considered as general sessions, mostly information giving and the commonly
accepted classical form of full membership meeting. All association meetings and conventions given in these
rankings must provide such criteria included;
i. minimum 50 participants should attend the meeting.
ii. should be planned on a regular basis (Should not be organized only one-time).
iii. should move between at least 3 different countries (ICCA report 2010).
According to the ICCA statistics, North America has been the region with the biggest average numbers of
delegates per meeting in the last decade. Europe is holding the leadership in the number of meetings which
welcomed the majority of participants and is generally followed by North America (2nd) and Asia & Middle East
(3rd) consecutively. Total participant numbers in Asia/Middle East and Africa increased deliberately in the past
decade, at the expense of North America and Oceania. Besides that, USA from North America and Germany,
France and Italy from Europe, keep their position on top ten lists due to the worldwide rankings: the number of
meetings per country statistics (ICCA report 2010). The convention market in the Asia–Pacific region has also
increased by 124% during the period of 1980–1996 (Hutchinson, 1997).
Congress studies have generally focused on site selection factors, (Crouch & Louviere, 2005; Crouch &
Ritchie, 1998; Grant & Weaver, 1996; Jun & McCleary, 1999; Oppermann, 1994; Lee and Back 2008), congress
economic impact (Braun 1992) congress economic impact on national economies, ( Grado et al 1998 ;Kim et al
2003) attendee motivation factors, (Rittichainuwat et al, 2001; Severt et.al.2007) meeting planner issues
including decision-making processes, (Yoo and Chon, 2008; Baloglu & Love, 2001; Oppermann and Chon
1997; Oppermann, 1998a), destination perception and image assessment (Oppermann, 1996, 1998b) and,
convention quality dimensions (Kim, et al 2012) .
Economic impact of convention industry can be summarised as follows: (1) the number of delegates for one
convention is large; (2) the number of days stayed in a city or country is longer than pleasure travellers with
other purposes; (3) international convention delegates spend more than other travellers; (4) delegates who
participate in a convention also tend to join in pre- or post-tours (for pleasure); and (5) industries affected by
convention are various and interrelated ( Kim et al 2003). Convention industry stabilises the seasonal pressures
of tourism. Conferences are generally held in the low season with consequent effects on both the occupancy rate
and the environment, reducing imbalances caused by peaks of seasonable tourism (Var et al 1985; Opperman &
Chon, 1997 Zhang, et.al 2007) On the other hand Overseas convention attendees are valuable assets for the
tourism industry. They usually stay longer and spend more than other types of tourists; attendees are normally
opinion leaders who are in a very good position to influence others about a country or region and its offerings.
With their favorable word-of-mouth comments, they help in promoting tourism in the host location by giving it a
positive image. So it may help the host location to fill hotels during slack seasons (Zhang et al 2007). A large
proportion of convention turnover is derived from firms affiliated with the network, such as hotels, convention
organisers, retail outlets, transport companies and entertainment providers. This leads to the development of
positive effects on the local economy, in terms of greater profits and higher employment levels (Opperman &
Chon, 1997 ; Bernini, 2009)). Also meetings, conventions, and trade shows have substantial direct and indirect
impacts on a local economy (Grado et al 1998). For example, in 1999 Las Vegas, NV, hosted 3847 conventions
for 3.7 million delegates with an economic impact of more than $4.1 billion (During that same year Orlando, FL,
hosted 4.84 million conventioneers with an estimated economic impact of $2.8 billion. An additional $331
million was spent by associations and exhibitors at the Orange County Convention Center. Thus, the association
market represents an extremely lucrative segment for destination cities across the country. (Baloğlu & love,
2005) International attendants to conferences in Sydney during 1996–1997 stayed on average 6.9 nights in the
city and 10 days in Australia in total, and spent on average A$ 5722 on conference registration fees,
accommodations, domestic airfares, shopping, restaurants, and other costs while in Sydney, and the amount
reached approximately A$770 per day additionally, 79% of foreign delegates who participated in international
conventions held in Australia tended to stay in five- or four-star hotels and approximately 50% of all
international delegates participated in a pre- or postconference tour, staying on average a further 3.1 days in the
country Especially, Australia’s meetings and exhibitions are estimated to have generated around A$7 billion
annually in direct expenditure to the Australian economy. Braun (1992) stated that convention spending directly
affects the following sectors: hotels and other lodging; eating and drinking establishments; miscellaneous retail;
amusement and recreation; membership organizations; transportation services; business services; social services;
building materials and garden supply; health services; repair services; museums, botanical gardens, and zoos
(Kim et al 2003).
IMEX Group released the findings of its "Power of 10" research study, Conducted by Fast Future Research,
which is in charge of the Convention 2020 study on the future of business events, 10 questions asked about the
decade ahead to 10 individually selected thought and business leaders from 10 key sectors inside and outside the
meetings industry, for a total of 100 interviews. In addition, it conducted a global survey of 765 respondents in
68 countries on six continents. Initial findings are below: (Alderton, 2012)
SESSION 4C: Turizm 361

i. Seventy-one percent of survey respondents expect global economic uncertainty and instability to have
an impact across the sector worldwide.
ii. Nearly half (49 percent) of survey respondents believe we will start to experience the impact of
improvements in the quality and cost of technology alternatives to live meetings.
iii. Forty-seven percent of survey respondents expect shorter and faster business cycles to play a
significant role in future meetings.
iv. Forty-six percent of survey respondents anticipate growing political and economic influence coming
from Asia.
v. Eighty-six percent of survey respondents agree to some significant extent that, "A decade from now,
the most important roles for live events will be the event designer, learning architect and digital
strategist."
vi. A vast majority (91 percent) of survey respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the following
statement: "To reduce its vulnerability to economic cycles, the business events industry must
demonstrate a tangible return on investment for event owners, delegates, sponsors, exhibitors and
other key stakeholders."
vii. The three most commonly cited future cost control tactics for event organizers are: closing
unprofitable meetings, running shorter events and co-locating events with other organizers to share
venue costs.
viii. For associations and commercial event owners, the three future tactics considered to be the most
popular for generating additional revenue were: learning from sectors such as sports about attracting
sponsors and exhibitors, making the event the launch platform for year-round revenue generation and
premium pricing options with an event.
ix. The technology developments expected to have the greatest impact on live events in the next decade
are mobile apps, free Wi-Fi and streaming video to remote audiences.
x. The top five challenges facing the industry in the years ahead are: evolving a distinctive industry
persona, establishing universal economic impact models, proving relevance and value, thinking and
acting strategically, and nurturing agility and flexibility.
The research show that the future of congress tourism will be more innovative, tecnological and low cost based
and will depend on the economical, political and social improvements for the next decade.

3 Congress Tourism in Turkey

Although the history of convention industry went back to the 18th century in the world, Turkey started to take
part in Global Congress Tourism market in the second half of the 20th century. After joining to the North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation (NATO), in 1952, international meetings and conferences started to take part in Turkey.
Congress tourism was in procrastination for about 40 years after joining to the NATO. However, the turning
point for congress tourism in Turkey was the organisation of HABITAT II conference. The Istanbul Sports and
Exhibition Hall remained Turkey's one and only indoor sports and exhibition hall for many years. The United
Nations decided to realize the one of the largest organization for its time called HABITAT II Summit in Istanbul,
this venue was transformed into an international convention and exhibition center and its name was changed as
the Istanbul Lütfi Kırdar (former mayor and governor of Istanbul) Convention and Exhibition Centre (ICEC).
The Habitat II Summit, the United Nation’s (UN) largest and most comprehensive conference at the end of the
20th century, was held here successfully (www.icec.org).
According to International Congress and Conventions Association’s statistics (ICCA), Turkey hosted 96089
visitors, from the different countries all around the world in the year 2007. These figures took Turkey to the 20th
position in the world. Besides that, Istanbul ranked 8th by means of Congress participants in the World (Türsab
AR-GE raporu, 2009).
Due to the ICCA worldwide rankings: number of per country statistics, Turkey is standing on the 23rd place
with 159 meetings in 2011. According to the same statistics, Finland, Poland, Mexico, Belgium are in upper;
Singapore, Denmark, Norway, Greece, Malaysia and Hungary, are lower than Turkey’s position. Turkey took
14th place with its 159 meetings in Europe rankings: according to the number of meetings per country statistics.
Turkey got the pole position comparing with Denmark, Norway, Greece, Hungary, Czech Republic, Ireland,
Croatia and Russia in Europe. As it was mentioned earlier, Germany keeps its leadership with 577 meetings per
year and besides that France and Italy keep their positions on top ten list (ICCA report, 2011).
Turkey’s one of the most popular congress destinations is İstanbul with its historical, geopolitical and
economic importance. The other congress tourism destinations are Ankara with its political importance, Antalya,
İzmir, Muğla, Bursa with their climate and natural, historical, economic and geographical advantages and
Cappodocia with its touristic potential. Turkey mostly host congress from the sector of medical and IT Industry.
362 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EURASIAN ECONOMIES 2012

(www.kobifinans.com.tr) According to TUIK (Turkish Statistics Institute) while in the year 2006, tourist visited
Turkey for the purpose of congress, are 443000, in the year 2010 it has reached more than 750000 congress
visitors.
There are 36 congress centers and 2.392 meeting halls in Turkey as of 2009. 1.748 of them are founded in
Istanbul, Antalya, Aydın, Ankara, Izmir and Muğla. 680 of them are located in the rest of the country. Antalya
has the highest proportion of the total capacity in Turkey with its 37.52 % share. Antalya is followed by İstanbul
with its 19.85% share. Ankara is on the third place with 6.51 %. Muğla has the 4th rank with 6.23 %. In the last
but not the least important, Izmir has a proportion of 5.72%. (TÜRSAB, Ar-Ge departmanı 2009). Also,
Istanbul Conventions and Visitors Bureau (ICVB) and Antalya Convention Bureau (ACB) provides facilities
for congress organizers such as; bid support, venue finding, consulting and advise, site inspections and online
congress calendar (www.icvb.org).

4 SWOT Analysis of Turkish Congress Tourism

The SWOT analysis is a really important tool to outline the current situation of congress tourism in Turkey.
By stating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, countries can better forecast their prospective
situation in a specific field of study. In table 1 there is a SWOT analysis of Congress tourism in Turkey and the
results are explained as follows.
Strengths Weaknesses
- Strong government support behind the industry. - Increasing input costs.
- Increasing potential in English speaking workforce. - Inactive capacity.
- Unspoiled nature and sea. - Authority.
- History and culture. - Lack of international pressure group activities.
- Unique sites (Cappadoccia, Pamukkale travertines). - Traffic.
- Restaurants (International and Turkish cuisine) - Promotion.
- National parks. - Infrastructure
- Accessibility. -Training of workers for the congress tourism sector.
- Entertainment and shopping opportunities. - Inadequate number of congress bureaus.
- A new destination. - Insufficient congress bureaus.
-Increasing inbound tourism demand on congress
tourism.
- Turkish Hospitality.
Opportunities Threats
- Availability of young and knowledgeable workforce. -Strengthening TL among other currencies.
- To host 2014 ICCA congress in Antalya. -Increasing competition.
- Innovations especially made in medical industry. -Tax on alcohol.
- Developing infrastructure and superstructure. -Bureaucratic obstacles.
- New urban transformation law. -Economic crisis on EU countries.
- Support of tourism policies. -Recession on global economies.
- Decrease of barriers on international travels. -Lack of land for new hotel investments in downtown.

Table 1: SWOT Analysis of Congress Tourism in Turkey

4.1 Strengths
As described in Table 1, Turkey has the following strengths in the Congress Tourism industry;
i. There is a strong government support behind the congress tourism industry, which was pioneered by the
Tourism Incentive Law (Law no: 2634) in 1983. With this law Turkish government was planned to
provide; land allocation for tourism investments, some exemptions to tourism investors etc. (Deloitte,
Turkish tourism industry report, 2010).
ii. The number of English speaking workforce has started to increase as a result of the development of
tourism education in Turkey. Hospitality education was started to be taken into consideration since the
late 80’s in Turkey. Right after the opening of the Tourism and Hotel management departments in the
universities, potential workforce started to become globally eligible.
iii. Turkey has relatively unspoiled nature and sea comparing with its rivals.
iv. Another stronger position of Turkey is its history and culture. Turkey is positioned as a cradle of
civilizations. Turkey has many historical sites and museums in different cities. Hagia Sophia museum in
Istanbul, date back to 542 b.c. attracts tourists from all over the world, and some of which is
encountered to be the world’s biggest, such as “Zeugma” mosaic museum in Gaziantep, and some is the
unique in Turkey such as the Bodrum museum of underwater archaeology.
SESSION 4C: Turizm 363

v. Country’s unique sites such as Cappadoccia, Pamukkale Travertines make Turkey more interesting.
vi. There are many restaurants that serves international and Turkish cuisine besides that there are many
others that serve ethnic cuisine.
vii. There are many glamorous national parks in Turkey such as Uludağ, Davutlar, Altındere, etc.
viii. Turkey is bridging two continents, and can easily be reached by airways, highways, seaways and
railways. There are international airports in all major cities and modern highways such as Trans
European Motorway, and ports such as Galata, Kusadasi and Cesme, and marinas such Marmaris,
Bodrum, Fethiye, Istanbul Atakoy, Istanbul Kalamis and international railways such as Istanbul Sirkeci
and Istanbul Haydarpasa.
ix. Night life, international festivals and entertainment facilities and shopping opportunities make the
country more attractive for the tourists in every segment.
x. Turkey is a newer destination with its higher standart lodging establishments.
xi. Another strength in congress tourism is an increasing demand in inbound congress tourism activities.
This is mainly because of the increasing number of delegates who attend the national congresses.
xii. Turkish hospitality is still attracts tourists from all over the world.

4.2 Weaknesses
Turkey’s weaknesses in congress tourism industry are as follows;
i. Increased cost of inputs is concerned as a problem while determining the costs for a specific tourism
product.
ii. Congress tourism is taking place in a 5-6 major destinations in our country. Besides these cities, we
have a lot more capacity to be utilised.
iii. In the field of congress tourism there must be an independent authority.
iv. We have to be more dominant in international communities.to promote Turkey as a congress destination
v. Traffic problem must be resolved by emphasizing on public transportation.
vi. Turkey needs to be promoted as a congress destination in all over the world.
vii. Infrastructure and superstructure especially in touristic destinations must be developed.
viii. Training of the staff is vital for the congress tourism sector in different fields of studies.
ix. There are inadequate number of congress bureaus, and existing bureaus need to be developed.

4.3 Opportunities
Turkey’s opportunities in congress tourism industry are as follows;
i. Turkey has a great opportunity to increase its share, with its young and knowledgeable workforce.
ii. Antalya is going to host a huge international event that will gather professionals from international
meetings industry in 2014 (www.antalyaconvention.org). It will bring a big opportunity to promote
Turkey’s congress tourism facilities globally.
iii. Innovations in medical industry such as surgery, organ transplantions etc. makes our country be
preferred by medicine specialists in different congresses.
iv. Turkish government is undertaking the responsiblity to build the infrastructure to encourage the private
sector.
v. Turkey now has a new urban transformation law that will effect the country image positively.
vi. Tourism policy supports niche markets.
vii. Many countries started to make visa procedures easier. Opportunity to visit the countries without visa
will increase the number of congress participants.

4.4 Threats
Country’s threats in congress tourism industry are as follows;
i. Strengthening TL among other currencies is becoming a major threat.
ii. Turkey must take some precautionary steps due to the increasing competition among its rivals.
iii. Increasing the percentage of tax on alcohol eventually increase the prices of alcoholic beverages.
iv. Investors of congress tourism sector are becoming reluctant as they are coming up with bureacratic
obstacles during the investment process.
v. Delegates tend to participate in less meetings due to the economic crisis in some of the European Union
countries.
vi. People are having a tendency to travel less, because of the recession on global economies.
vii. The land allocation for the new congress tourism investments in downtown is ill-considered.
364 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EURASIAN ECONOMIES 2012

5 Related Strategies for Congress Tourism in Turkey

Under the light of SWOT analysis, the following strategies should be taken into consideration for the
consistent improvement of Congress Tourism in Turkey.
i. Turkish government should follow the intensive growth strategy by reaching the alternative market
segments in international areas.
ii. Turkey should attempt to follow tactics for guerilla marketing, in order to reach the best possible
outcomes with a limited amount of resources.
iii. As a country we need to promote our products strongly in global arena.
iv. Either insider or outsider, Turkey should activate the international pressure group activities, by
influencing the decisions to hold some international events such as ICCA congress 2014. Turkey must
be addressed in such giant events.
v. The cost of the prices of Turkish tourism products should be relatively lower than our rivals, in order to
be chosen by Professional Congress Organizer’s (PCO), international associations and unions.
Nevertheless, as explicitly explained above, the quality must remain the same.
vi. By being the cradle of civilizations, Turkey must also advance its core competencies by utilising the
above mentioned resources especially in congress tourism,
vii. With the improvement of competetive advantages, Turkey can get ahead of its rivals (Sariisik et al
2011).
viii. Turkey, should be more thought provoking for the congress visitors. If government can implement the
realistic and sustainable strategies, it will be the driving force behind the congress tourism for the
country (Ersun et al 2009).

6 Conclusion
Tourism is considered to be one of the most vulnerable industries all around the world. It can easily be affected
by wars in neighbouring countries, economic crisis, recessions, terrorism, natural disasters, political crisis
between countries and etc. However, it has also high contribution to local economies and it is a vital sector
especially for the developing countries as Turkey. There are some handicaps in improving the congress tourism
in Turkey, such as; Increasing input costs, inactive capacity, authority, lack of international pressure group
activities, traffic, promotion, infrastructure, and superstructure, training of workers for the congress tourism
sector. Nevertheless, if the existing potential would be utilised effectively, Turkey has a huge potential to
overcome these obstacles, as outlined in this paper. As seen in the figures, there is an increasing number of
meetings in Turkey. Thus, more delegates prefer Turkey as congress visitor. By reaching the higher quantity in
the number of congress participants, quality factors must not be forgotten. Turkey is evaluated to have the brand
new quality accomodation, transportation and congress facilities (Sariisik et al 2011).
As a result Turkey has great potential on congress tourism. If necessary steps are taken and the strategies for
the future development are accomplished, the weaknesses will become strengths and threats will become
opportunities. With the efforts of government and private sector should fullfil the requirements of congress
tourism in Turkey. The opportunities to promote the country in the international community should not be
missed. Marketing congress destinations, is more likely to promote the luxury products. All of the details should
thoroughly be considered, otherwise all the efforts go down to drain. Besides that, to prefer one specific
destination to another, may only be possible when the congress destination has positive image, and information
about the amenities known by the delegates. Multi-faceted characteristic of the congress tourism makes it hard to
control about the planning, coordination and collaboration factors between the institutions and enterprises related
to this sector (Ersun et al 2009). Also organisations such as Istanbul Congress and Visitor Bureau (ICVB) and
Antalya Convention Bureau (ACB) must be more proactive and they need to be closely involved with decisions.
They give the services such as; bid support, venue finding, consulting and advise, site inspections and online
congress calendar; starting with the major city centers. However, these efforts should be amplified throughout
the whole country. On these grounds, congress tourism needs a special attention among others while it creates
higher revenues.
References
 Alderton, M. , 2012 “IMEX 'Power of 10' Study Reveals Future Challenges, Opportunities for
Meetings”http://www.successfulmeetings.com/Conference-News/Research-White-Papers/Articles/IMEX--Power-of-10-
-Study-Reveals-Future-Challenge.
 Antalya Convention Bureau, 2012, www.antalyaconvention.org.
 Baloglu, S. and Love, C.2005. “ Association Meeting Planners’ Perceptions and Intentions for Five
 Major US Convention Cities: The Structured and Unstructured Images”, Tourism Management, 26, pp. 743–752.
 Baloglu, S., & Love, C. 2001. “Association Meeting Planners’ Perceptions of Five Major Convention Cities: Results of
The Pre-Test”, Journal of Convention & Exhibition Management, 3(1), pp. 21–30.
SESSION 4C: Turizm 365

 Braun, B. M. 1992. “The Economic Contribution of Conventions: the Case of Orlando, Florida”, Journal of Travel
Research, 30(3), pp. 32–37.
 Bernini, C. 2009. “Convention Industry and Destination Clusters: Evidence from Italy”,Tourism Management, 30, pp.
878–889.
 Crouch, G. I., & Louviere, J. L. 2005. “The Determinants of Convention Site Selection: A Logistic Choice Model from
Experimental Data”, Journal of Travel Research, 43(November),pp. 118–130.
 Crouch, G. I., & Ritchie, J. R. B. 1998. “Convention Site Selection Research: A Review Conceptual Model, and
Propositional Framework”, Journal of Conventions & Exhibition Management, 1(1), pp. 49–69.
 Ersun, N., Kahraman, A., 2009, “Kongre turizminin geliştirilmesinde kongre ve ziyaretçi bürolarının rolü ve önemi”,
İstanbul Ticaret Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, pp. 89-114.
 Grant, Y. N. J., & Weaver, P. A. 1996. “The Meeting Selection Process: A Demographic Profile of Attendees Clustered
by Criteria Utilized in Selecting Meetings”, Hospitality Research Journal, 20(1), pp. 57–71.
 Grado, S. C., Strauss, C. H., & Lord, B. E. 1998. “Economic Impacts of Conference and Convention”, Journal of
Convention & Exhibition, I(1), pp. 42–49.
 Hutchinson, J. 1997. Tourism-Getting It Right for the Millennium. Sydney: SCVB.
 ICCA, 2009,“Statistics Reports, The International Association Meetings Market Abstract for non-members” pp.17-20
 ICCA, 2011, “Country and City Rankings, International Association Meetings Market” pp.4-25.
 Istanbul Congress and Visitors Bureau, http://www.icvb.org/icvb_ser.asp .
 Jun, J., & McCleary, K. W. 1999. “Classifying U.S. Association Meeting Planners Based on International Destination
Selection Criteria: A Case Study of South Korea”, International Journal of Hospitality Management,,18, pp. 183–199.
 Kim, S.S., Chon, K. and Chung, K. Y. 2003 “Convention Industry in South Korea: An Economic Impact Analysis”,
Tourism Management 24, pp. 533–541.
 Kim, S., Leeb J-S.,and Kim, M. 2012. “How Different Are First-Time Attendees from Repeat Attendees in Convention
Evaluation?”, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(2012), pp.544–553.
 Lee, J. S., & Back, K. J. 2008. “Attendee-based brand equity”, Tourism Management, 29(2), pp. 331–344.
 Oppermann, M.,& Chon, K.S. 1997. Tourism in Developing Countries. International Thomson Press, London.
 Oppermann, M. 1998a. “Perceptions of Convention Destinations: Largehalf, Small-Half Association Meeting Planners”,
Journal of Convention & Exhibition Management, 1(1), pp. 35–48.
 Oppermann, M. 1998b. “ Convention Participation Decision-Making Process”, Annals of Tourism Research, 24(1), pp.
178–191.
 Oppermann, M. (1996). “Convention Destination Images: Analysis of Association Meeting Planners’ Perceptions”,
Tourism Management, 17(3), pp. 175–182.
 Oppermann, M. 1994. “Modeling Convention Location Choice and Participation Decision Making Process: A Review
with Emphasis on Professional Associations”. Les Cahiers du Tourisme, Serie C (188), Centre des hautes Etudes
Touristiques, Universite de Droit, d’Economie et des Sciences, Aix-en-Provence.
 Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry, Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey, Turkish Tourism Industry
Report, (2010), pp. 12.
 Rittichainuwat, B. N., Beck, J. A., & LaLopa, J. 2001. “Understanding Motivations, Inhibitors, and Facilitators of
Association Members in Attending International Conferences”, Journal of Convention & Exhibition Management, 3(3),
pp. 45–62.
 Sariisik, M., Turkay O. and Akova, O. 2011, “How to manage yacht tourism in Turkey: A swot analysis and related
strategies, Elsevier Ltd, pp. 1-9.
 Severt, D., Wang, Y., Chen, P., & Breiter, D. 2007. “Examining the Motivation, Perceived Performance, and Behavioural
Intentions of Convention Attendees: Evidence from a Regional Conference”,Tourism Management, 28(2), p. 399–408.
 The İstanbul Covention and Exhibition center, 2012. http://www.icec.org/en/corporate/our_history.
 TÜRSAB, AR-GE departmanı, (2009), “Dünyada ve Türkiye’de Kongre Turizmi”.
 TÜRSAB, AR-GE departmanı ( 2002),” Türkiye’nin kongre turizminden aldığı pay artıyor”.
 Var, T., Cesario, F., & Mauser, G. 1985.” Convention Tourism Modeling”, Tourism Management, 6(3), pp.195–204.
 Whitfield, J.E.,2005,An Analysis and Critique of an Evolving Conference Industry within the U.K. From Post-war
to the Present Day, Doctoral thesis, Bornemouth University, pp. 37.
 Yee-ManSiu, N., Wan, P.Y.K. and Dong P. 2012. “The Impact of the Servicescape on the Desire to Stay in Convention
and Exhibition Centers: The Case of Macao”, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31, pp. 236–246.
 Yoo, J.J., Chon, K., 2008. “Factors Affecting Convention Participation Decision-Making: Developing A Measurement
Scale”, Journal of Travel Research, 47, pp. 113–122.
 Zhanga, H.Q., Leunga, V. and Qu H. 2007. “A Refined Model of Factors Affecting Convention Participation Decision-
Making “ Tourism Management, 28, pp. 1123–1127.