Dear Friend of ICVB,

ICVB has had an exciting and very productive year thus far. We are proud to be able to tell you in this issue not only about the prominent international trade fairs that we have attended but also about our exceptional success in bringing major international conferences to Istanbul. Our efforts and those of our members are paying off. Istanbul is becoming increasingly recognized as an important destination on the world conference and incentive map. Perhaps the clearest indication of this is ICCA’s decision to host their Convention Bureaus Workshop here in 2006.

Of course, we’ve continued to focus on our marketing efforts, with the new Meeting Planners Guide published and our new web site on line. We have other important new initiatives in the pipeline and have recently advertised Istanbul and Turkey in several important international travel industry publications.

In parallel with these efforts, ICVB will continue to implement its marketing strategy as it works not only to raise Istanbul's international profile as a conference and incentive destination but also to bring major international conferences to Istanbul. With several important leads being followed up currently, we hope to have exciting news to share with you in the next issue of the ICVB News.

Yılmaz Tecmen
ICVB Chairman