The International MICE & Wedding Forum (IMWF), which continues at Regnum Carya, not only offers its participants inspiring speeches and sectoral sharing, but also lays the foundations of strategic collaborations that will shape the global business world.

Speaking at the panel titled “Destination Turkey, a Transformative and Insightful Conversation”, Susona Bodrum General Manager Kemal Bayık said, "There are 3 things I would like to mention. One is the close partnerships we have with the MICE and wedding organizers here at IMWF and the great relationships with our partners. This is how you protect your business and this is how you attract people here. Thank you very much for inviting us here. It's great to connect with all of you. The second one is destination marketing. We are talking about the destination Turkey. There are great NGOs, there are great partners and there are government agencies that are very keen to support us to continue to put the Turkey brand out there. And the last one is consumer marketing efforts, whether it's influencer engagement, whether it's classic advertising, you name it, we use it, so we're always in front of the end customer."

Emphasizing that sustainability should be at the center of every issue in the sector, Bayık said, "Guests are demanding ownership of our sector. Investors really want to see more, for example you got your restaurant into the Michelin Guide, that's great and you managed to achieve zero waste, that's excellent. But the next question is how much of the energy you consume comes from fully renewable energy. If you achieve that, the next question comes. I think when all these things come together, with these great initiatives that we can learn from each other as an industry, we can really put sustainability where it belongs. This is our home, this is our destination, this is the world we are all trying to protect here."

Stating that Turkey has both disadvantages and advantages, Bayık said, "The challenge here is that Türkiye is an investor's paradise. Obviously, you see every brand here. Every year another magnificent luxury facility opens, whether it's a restaurant or a hotel. So basically the supply is constantly increasing. Of course tourism is also increasing every year. But with the increase in supply, I have to admit that there is a challenge. Why are all these brands coming here? Because Türkiye is a great center. This is definitely an advantage. Istanbul Airport is a hub, a worldwide connection point. You can bring your guests from anywhere on any given day, probably multiple times a day. And that creates a great opportunity for an increasing performance year on year in terms of the number of tourists coming and tourism revenues. So there is a great opportunity for growth, the number of weddings, the number of mice can easily increase every year in this country."

Bayık said that Bodrum has definitely become a very good destination for South Asian weddings, "Because I would say that Bodrum and most of the hotels in Turkey offer a lot of purchasing opportunities, which is something we are looking for for Indian weddings. There is something that sets Bodrum apart from all these big destinations. There is a wide range of small, medium, large luxury scale items that you can buy. This is a game changer for destination weddings. It's not so easy to identify one of these world-class destinations and you want to take over the entire property for your decor, for your imagination. You're not just buying the ballroom and the hallway leading to it. You are taking over the whole experience. We're talking about world-class outlets, restaurants, an amazing beach all in one. I think that's what makes Bodrum different and especially for weddings, the seasonality of Bodrum is much longer than we think, I would say starting from the end of April until October is an important time to explore wedding opportunities there."