The study visit in Istanbul between 1-11 March 2020 was the last part of a series of 6 Studies visits organised under as part of the project ‘Boosting Community-based Tourism and Youth Work for Global Sustainable Development’. Unfortunately, the representative of PRISM could not be physically there, due to the travel restrictions set under the COVID-19 emergency.
Partners from Nepal (CCN) and Vietnam (YESD) were welcome and hosted by the local Youth Inclusion Association who is a long-time partner of PRISM.
Besides visiting several important cultural and touristic spots in the city, the project team also had several meetings with local political and community representatives, youth volunteers and activists.
The project team had a meeting with Tacire Baktas local political representative, who supported the international participants in understanding the political context in the field of tourism. The participants were also guided around the I.D.E.A Social Entrepreneurs Hub that is operated by the Kadikoy Municipality.
The team also met with several young volunteers of the Younclusion Association, visited the well-known NGO called AYDER who is promoting accessible tourism in the area.
The participants were also gaining an insight to the tourism of Istanbul from a professional point of view, through the meeting with a great local travel agency.
Participants also had time to discover the exceptional town of Istanbul, which has a lot to show to anyone, therefore the possibilities in community-based tourism is also considered quite significant. The Study visit was a great opportunity to discuss how this can be promoted in cooperation with youth work.
After the 6 Study visits implemented in Nepal, Vietnam, India, Kenya, Spain and Turkey under the BOCOTO-project, the partners now has arrived to the final steps to concretise those Community-based volunteer packages that in the future they wish to implement and promote to travellers coming from all over the world. Nevertheless, the current global COVID-19 emergency is giving some challenges to the partnership to foresee how community-based tourism can be realised due to the changed circumstances, but the plans are currently under construction.
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