ISTANBUL
By Esra Kaymak
Most Istanbul-related theme for tourists visiting the ancient city is taking a view to the beautiful Boshphorus from Istanbul's lovely and historical ferryboats in the middle of the sea, connecting Asia and Europe.
Following several cultural events, festivals and organizations for people from all around the world, the view and moment which 90 percent of the tourists most remember is the Boshphorus view, seen through the ferryboats, according to an Istanbul local municipality's survey result.
With its 163-year-old ferryboat company 'Sirket-i Hayriye' and the 559-year-old Halic shipyard (Tersane-i Amire), Istanbul's cityline ferry company 'Sehir Hatlari Management' serves an increasing number of passengers each year to cross the Bosphorus and reach either Asia, Europe or the Princes' Islands.
Sirket-i Hayriye, first cityline ferry corporation company of the Ottoman Empire, was founded in 1851, following the establishment of Halic shipyard in 1455, two years after Istanbul was conquered in 1453 with the order of Conqueror Mehmet II.
Saying Istanbul was defined through five main themes by its visitors, General Director of the cityline ferry company 'Sehir Hatlari' Suleyman Genc stated there were 'exceptional symbols' of the magnificent city and the ferryboats were one of the best of those.
"Istanbul is a city which can be described through five main landmarks. One of these is the view of Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. Another one is the Maiden's Tower. View of Galata and Pera region is another one. The first bridge (Boshphorus bridge) suits Istanbul with its willowy, aesthetic and gentle style. There are exceptional symbols of the city, where the ferryboats are one of the best reflections of the city," Genc said.
Noting the potential of the ferryboats with a capacity of 600 to 2,100 is to be increased in the coming period parallel to several transportation projects like Marmaray, which connects Asia and Europe with an uninterrupted railway transportation under the Istanbul strait, Genc said tenders are still made for the betterment of the ferryboats.
Three ferries with a capacity of 600, one with 750 people capacity, 14 ferries with 1,500 capacity, five ferries with 1,800 capacity and five with 2,100 capacity ferries serve currently in Istanbul to transport passengers to different quays from several destinations throughout Istanbul.
In 2010, the number of passengers transported via the ferries in Istanbul was 43 million, where the number increased to 45 million in 2011 and to 50 million in 2012. It reached its record high level in 2013 with the number of 53,500,000 passengers.
- Huge variety of ways to take a look at Bosphorus
Genc stressed they had two classical Bosphorus tours, the short one starting from Eminonu, passing Ortakoy, Uskudar, Cubuklu and Istinye and turning back to Eminonu, whereas the full Boshphorus cruise starts in Eminonu, passing Besiktas, Kanlica, Sariyer, Rumeli Kavagi and Yoros Castle (Anadolu Kavagi) reaching the point where Boshphorus reaches the Blacksea and turns back to Eminonu.
"A broader transportation with entertaining tours are offered now, which we will enlarge with several other short tours in the coming future. We have tours and voyages special in the moonlight, voyages for children, for mothers on mother's day, tours for disabled people in international day of persons with disabilities, voyages and activities to raise awareness on environmental and sea cleaning, theatre shows, concerts, where artists from abroad also participate and display performance," Genc noted. "We are open to the whole society, where everybody can join our events. Our 'Vapurda Cay Simit Sohbet' (Tea&Simit Talks on Ferryboat) television programme along with Turkish state television TRT Turk has reached its 97th episode."
He also added they started to use Intelligent Multimedia Guide System (IMGS) three years ago, which is Turkey's first visual and auditory multimedia guidance system in ten different languages to guide guests who want to take a nice Bosphorus tour.
IMGS gives information on Istanbul’s historical, geographical and cultural position, touristic places and objects seen while the boarded ferry passes near or in front of them during the tour (Palaces, Mansions, Towers, Bridges, Districts, Islands and Golden Horn), 'must' visits of Istanbul and shopping centers.
- "Italian and Greek tourists top in visiting Golden Horn and Princes' Islands"
No other touristic voyages are taken in the hinterland of the Golden Horn (Halic) except theirs, Genc stated, saying the number of passengers was quite high not only in summers, but also in winters.
"Mostly Italian and Greek tourists visit the Golden Horn region, where the voyages start from Eyup district and pass the orthodox patriarchate school, placed in this special cradle of civilization region of Istanbul, where they also take a look from the Pierre Loti Hill to the Golden Horn," he added.
During Christian feasts, the number of ferryboat voyages increase to the Princes' Islands mostly taken by Greek tourists especially to Buyukada, Genc stressed.
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