About Us: We are here to prove that nothing has to be more expensive just
because the clients are gay
!
Pride Travel started gay tourism in Turkey about 7 years
ago as a sub-division of a straight travel agency operated by gay and
lesbian staff. This gay and lesbian division separated to form a more exclusively gay agency in mid 2006 and
establishedPride Travel Agency. The company is new but highly
qualified and dedicated staff and administration is the most
experienced people about gay travel and tourism in Turkey.
Being a gay-owned/managed company, we are exclusively focused on
gay and lesbian tourism. Turkey is recently taking big steps in
formation of gay and lesbian culture and we are proud to be a part
of this progress in gay and lesbian tourism as we are one of the
first companies organizing tours for gay and lesbian travelers
visiting our country since 5 years. Rather than typical
group gay tours, we focus on customized tours for individuals or
for private groups, for those who needs a personal touch in a
mysterious foreign land. We also organize exclusive gay packages
for groups occasionally on specific dates that will be announced
on our websites.
Our office is located centrally in
Sultanahmet, the
most famous town at the ancient Istanbul and the heart of
Istanbul's tourism activities. We work in full cooperation
with the most respected tourism institutions, hotels, airlines and
coach companies all round Turkey to give the best possible service
with best prices to our clients. We only cooperate with real gay friendly tour operators,
and choose the most gay friendly hotels, tour guides and companies
for the tours we provide for our gay and lesbian clients.
Our office is also a meeting point for gay travelers. So, do not
hesitate to visit our office just to say hello, ask our advise and
get a free copy of gay guide
& map of Istanbul - not necessarily
for business.
Istanbul Pride Travel is a proud member of International Gay &
Lesbian Travel Association, IGLTA.
With our license given by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture
of Turkey, we are a member of TURSAB, officially
recognized association of travel agencies of Turkey. Remember that
your travel agent should be a member of TURSAB in order to
organize any kind of tourism activity in Turkey.
For us personal satisfaction is the best advertisement....
Owner/manager Derya with her
own words:
"I think I should consider myself lucky about living my
"lesbian" identity so liberally the way I do, because I was
grown up in a cosmopolite city like Istanbul, I had an
educated family and at the age of 17 when I was a university
student, I headed towards tourism business which is
comparatively very modern and western-minded business sector
in Turkey. Except a few sensational people, I am maybe the
only, or one of a few openly gay people in this country from
middle-class with an ordinary job. And, because I am proud of
my sexual identity under any circumstance, I really enjoy to
declare it to the people around me. I have been dealing with
tourism business for 14 years from top to toe and 7 years ago
I received my proficiency certificate as an expert from the
Ministry of Tourism. I graduated from the Archeology and
Art-History Department of Istanbul University. I have been
living on my own since I gained my economical independence,
which naturally means 14 years. I have two slogans in my life.
One is about my business: "I am here to help your dreams
come true". And the second one is about my private life
and it goes like this: "I am proud to say I am gay"
With my warmest regards !
Ms. Derya Koroglu
Pride staff:
Mustafa is a very open
gay men who is in charge of the internet part of our
business. He is our official internet representative and our
webmaster.
He has been in gay business for many years and has been
dealing with internet tourism for over 7 years. He will not
be at our office all the time, because he prefers to work
independently. He will be the one to reply your
e-mails or on-line requests at anytime of the day, sometimes
even late after mid-night.
He also organizes private gay bar tours personally, once in a
while.
Derya and
Robert (below) are trying to prove
"clash of civilizations" is a bullshit
