Tourism

The Tourism Group consists of nine facilities, including four five-star hotels, one four-star hotel, one first class holiday village, one five-star holiday village and one marina, as well as the Arena Giyim clothing company, which is the creator of the In-formal brand name, and which also has contracts with world renowned luxury brands such as Emporio Armani, Gucci and Loro Piana.

The Tourism Group’s hotel facilities include the Hyatt Regency Istanbul, MARITIM Hotel Club Alantur, MARITIM Hotel Grand Azur, Sheraton Voyager Antalya Hotel Resort & Spa, Paradise Side Beach Hotel, Aldiana Side and the Park Hyatt Istanbul Maçka Palas, which is due to open in the summer of 2008.

The Tourism Group opened Doğuş Turgutreis Marina in 2003, which enjoys a privileged position as one of Europe's most modern marinas with a capacity of 650 boats. Earning Five Golden Anchors and the Blue Flag awards, the facility has brought the world class quality standards to the Turkish coastline.

The Tourism Group secures its high levels of international service quality through global cooperation with Emporio Armani, Gucci and Loro Piana in the fashion industry, and with Hyatt International Ltd., Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Worldwide Inc, HMS International Hotel GmbH (MARITIM) and Aldiana GmbH in the tourism sector.

2007: A year of tremendous success
Following a downturn in 2006, the tourism sector in Turkey, as one of the 10 most popular tourist destinations worldwide, grew by about 18%. The total numbers of tourists visiting Turkey reached 23.3 million, with tourism receipts reaching USD 18.5 billion, marking an increase of 10% with respect to the previous year. However, tourism spending per person declined by 7% compared to the previous year, to USD 679.

New initiatives
The Tourism Group has unstintingly pushed ahead with the renovation of existing tourist establishments and its development-focused investments within the scope of 2007 targets, and strictly followed its growth-oriented investment philosophy.

In keeping with its strategic development plans, the Tourism Group carries out its initiatives in the tourism sector with the Park Hyatt Istanbul Maçka Palas project for the conversion of one of the historic landmarks in Istanbul into a 90-room boutique hotel in addition to its Didim and Dalaman Marina projects.

Work has started on the Didim Marina project, which will have a capacity of 1,200 yachts. The marina is scheduled to be completed by 2009. Another major marina project is the 1,300 yacht capacity Dalaman Marina project, work on which is scheduled to start in 2009.

Highlights from 2007
Continuing from 2006, the MARITIM Hotel Club Alantur has been totally renovated and presents an array of new facilities its guests.

In addition, the renovation of the Sheraton Voyager Hotel Resort & Spa continues.

In line with the concept of providing a high standard of service, the Doğuş Tourism Group has also started to renovate the MARITIM Hotel Grand Azur.

Dedicated to its guest-focused philosophy, the Tourism Group completed a major investment, the Gaia Fitness Centre & Spa at the Hyatt Regency Istanbul.

In 2007, new global standards were implemented at the Emporio Armani and Gucci Maçka locations, which were completely renovated in accordance with new concepts created by the brands.

The company has successively maintained its growth policy, opening new Emporio Armani, Armani Jeans and Gucci boutiques and an Emporio Armani Caffe in the new İstinye Park shopping mall, as well as adding the famous cashmere brand, Loro Piana, to its portfolio.

As a sign of quality in the area of Marinas, the D-Marin received the "The Best Marina in Turkey" award by SKAL in 2007.

The outlook
The Tourism Group sets its future strategies in line with the Doğuş Group's strategies to become a regional leader and to expand. The Tourism Group will continue to reflect its growth-oriented investment philosophy to its financial results and operations in coming years as well.