Interview with Mr. Ferit Temur, Director of LaBiance Event Agency

By Mehmet Fatih Oztarsu

The following are details of an interview with Director Ferit Temur of LaBiance Event Agency.--Ed

Question: Could you give us some information about LaBiance?
Answer:
LaBiance was created by a highly educated team of individuals with 15 years of international experience using an international event agency concept. Since its founding, we have been organizing events for special occasions like marriage proposals, birthday celebrations, weddings, romantic getaways, honeymoons, VIP tours, bachelor’s parties, anniversaries, love story and thematic photo shoots in Istanbul and Cappadocia, and yacht packages with similar concepts on Turkish southern coast. We also organize photography and wedding workshops for international participants, business meetings for private and public establishments.

LaBiance already has official representatives in Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and South Korea. In the future, we are planning on opening up to China, India and various other countries as well.

As for our business concept; we can say that we have a more personal approach rather than the widespread group approach we tend to see in the tourism sector. We plan and realize events for special occasions using a creative and artistic mindset in accordance with personal wishes and tastes of our clients. In this aspect, the feedback we have had from our previous clients show that by using a planned and meticulous work ethic, we are on the right path.

Q: What does opening up to South Korea mean to you?
A:
Our countries may be geographically far away, yet the love we share stems from a deep brotherly relationship. Inarguably, when we look at the Turkish and South Korean relations, it is hard not to mention the brotherhood we shared within the trenches during the 1952 Korean War. Friendships formed during wars and deepened in the face of the horrors shared in trenches are one of the most solid relationships a person can have in his life. Even after decades, they stay unforgotten and pass onto the children and grandchildren, staying a valuable spiritual heritage. Another event we cannot forget is the 2002 World Cup. The hospitality we received from our Korean brothers and sisters and the love they showed to Turkey is still fresh in the collective memory of our people. With these feelings and sentiments, we believe that carrying out business in South Korea is very exciting for us and that it lays a historic responsibility on us in terms of the relations between two countries. We act as the cultural ambassadors of our country when we present Turkey’s historic, natural and cultural beauties. We cannot wait to work with this mindset and open up to a friendly country we share historic bounds with and create unforgettable moments for our Korean clients.

Q: What type of innovations are you planning on bringing to the touristic relations with South Korea?
A:
In today’s world, South Korea is the best example of mass communication and technology developing at a dizzying rate. They have a young and dynamic population and we have been observing that the interest in our country is increasing day by day. When we look at the statistics, we hosted 160 thousand South Korean tourists in Turkey and we believe that this number has the potential to increase even more.

Our country has an amazing natural landscape with historic and touristic wealth. In terms of service quality and price range, Turkey is a destination with which our guests can get maximum satisfaction. Furthermore, Turkey has a visa free policy for South Korean citizen for tourism related visits for up to 90 days. When we look at annual statistics for tourist arrivals, our country ranks as 6th among the top 10 most visited countries with more than 40 million visitors in 2018. With the right promotion and targeting strategy, we are planning on giving our South Korean visitors an unforgettable experience. We believe that visiting a foreign country, especially during a special day that will be remembered for decades to come must be a unique experience. When we look at our work from this perspective, we can say that we are doing work that touches one’s soul.

Q: What type of services are you planning on offering to your South Korean guests?
A:
The main philosophy we have at LaBiance is to create personal level concepts outside of the classic tourism concept of sea, sun and sand trio and helping our clients form unforgettable memories.

For example, we have our unique region of Cappadocia, famous among Koreans. A magical atmosphere with unmatched natural beauties, fairy chimneys, and colorful hot air balloons. In this extraordinary atmosphere, we are fully ready to plan and carry out events for special occasions like marriage proposals, weddings, honeymoons, bachelor’s parties, romantic vacations, VIP tours and many more.

We have been observing that each year more and more professional photographers are visiting our country as part of photography tour programs. In this regard, we really would love to host South Korean photographers here in Turkey, in order for them to discover the riches of this land in person with our detailed photo tour packages.

Similarly, being the jewel of the Mediterranean, the internationally acclaimed Turkish beaches are absolutely dazzling. We are very excited to present our South Korean guests with the chance to experience the Turkish Riviera where the turquoise of the Mediterranean mixes with the green of the ancient Anatolian hills on our carefully organized yacht events. The feedback we receive from our South Korean visitors is a really important point for us, being the guidelines with which we can improve ourselves based on their tastes and preferences. Within this scope, we can widen the range of services we provide based on demand.

Additionally, the economicl relations between the two countries have been gaining momentum. When this is taken into consideration, we see that ever increasing number of business meetings and visits have been occurring. We can benefit from the boundless opportunities available all around Turkey, notably the large cities like Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir for events such as business meetings, conferences and forums, and present South Korean business world with creative solutions with our service quality.

In short, we would like to do our best to make a positive contribution to this period of ever increasing mutual interaction between two countries and we are inviting all our South Korean friends to Turkey to experience LaBiance quality.

Q: Which other countries are you aiming for and within what scope are you planning on working?
A:
Our medium-term plans include opening up to markets such as India, China and Japan. In recent years, Indian market has drawn a lot of interest from Turkish event agencies with its wedding sector surpassing 40 billion dollars. Similarly, Chinese and Japanese markets have serious potential for various Turkey based events with personal, group or business concepts. For example, Istanbul, one of the top geographically strategic points for international air logistics, boasts the beautiful historic site of Maiden’s Tower. Here, annual coordination meetings with transfers and accommodation services included can easily be organized in VIP terms for the executive members of international companies from South Korea as well as the rest of the world. Private yacht tours on the Bosphorus and/or city tours can be arranged as recreational activity choices as well.

Likewise, we can organize private vacations with “employee of the year” concept for employees with the aim of increasing working performance and motivation.
In short, as LaBiance family, we are ready for all types of new ideas and services within our sector.

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