Istanbul Hosted Faith Tourism Summit

Published by Ozgur Tore

THURSDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 2010

Istanbul hosted Faith Tourism Summit 2010 which was held in Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Center (ICEC) between 23 and 24 November 2010.

The summit is organized by The Presidency of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Turkey and Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB) within the framework of “Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture (ECOC) Project”.

Faith Tourism Summit is organized with the aims of providing sustainability for Istanbul as an essential destination of faith tourism on international basis. The summit confirmed Istanbul as an indispensable center for faith tourism with the participation of representatives from different religions.

Opening ceremony is attended by Kadir Topbaş; Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan, Hüseyin Avni Mutlu; Governor of Istanbul, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Sönmez; Director of Religious Affairs, Ertugrul Günay; Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister, Abdullah Gül, President of the Republic of Turkey.

Speakers at the summit include:

BARTHOLOMEOS I – GREEK ORTHODOX PATRIARCH

RAV ISAK HALEVA – CHIEF RABBI OF TURKEY

METROPOLIT YUSUF ÇETIN – THE METROPOLITAN, SPIRITUAL HEAD OF ISTANBUL AND ANKARA SYRIAC ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES AND DEPUTY PATRIARCH

KOREPİSKOPOS YUSUF SAĞ – CHORBISHOP, DEPUTY PATRIARCH OF THE TURKISH SYRIAC CATHOLIC CHURCH

JURGEN NEUBARTH – BAYERISCHES PILGERBURO

PROF. DR. AHMET AKGÜNDÜZ – RECTOR & PRESIDENT OF ROTTERDAM ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

PROF.DR.VECDİ AKYÜZ – MARMARA UNIVERSITY – FACULTY OF THEOLOGY

PROF.DR. DR. BERNHARD UHDE – FREIBURG UNIVERSITY – FACULTY OF THEOLOGY

PROF.DR.MURAT BELGE – İSTANBUL BİLGİ UNIVERSITY

RIZA EPİKMEN- PRESIDENT OF TURCEV

KEVIN J. WRIGHT – PRESIDENT OF WORLD RELIGIOUS TRAVEL ASSOCIATION

DENİZ TÜFEKÇİ – SEVENTUR TRAVEL

via Focus on Travel News – Istanbul Hosted Faith Tourism Summit.