The early Christians dug caves into the soft rocks of Cappadocia and constructed chapels, monasteries and underground cities. Photos By Tina Arceo-Dumlao
Turkey, which straddles the continents of Asia and Europe, is home to the second most number of mentioned places in the Bible, next only to the Holy Land of Israel.
This fact is lost, however, on most Filipinos who are in the market for pilgrimage tours.
Nevertheless, the Philippines, where over 85 percent of the population of about 100 million profess to be Catholic, presents a potentially lucrative market for Istanbul-based D’Archo Travel founded by travel industry veterans Dogan Senay and Aysel Eroskay.
D’Archo Travel has thus made it its mission this year to strengthen its presence in the Philippines, in partnership with local pilgrimage tour specialist Larry’s Classic Tours, and market Turkey as a top-of-mind destination for those who want to see some of the places mentioned in the Bible.
“[We are] investing in the Philippines because Turkey is not widely known as the second most important biblical land in
the world,” Eroskay told the Inquirer. “Our goal is to present Turkey as a new pilgrimage destination, particularly to those who have visited the Holy Land many times. The Philippines has the largest potential for Catholic pilgrimage tours.”
Visitors today flock to these caves to marvel at the paintings.
There is certainly a huge room for growth.
Data from the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies showed that tourist arrivals in Turkey increased from 31.782 million in 2012 to 36.837 million last year, with the bulk of the tourists coming from Europe.
Germany was the single biggest source of tourists with 5.25 million visitors in 2014, followed by Russia with 4.479 million, and the United Kingdom with 2.6 million.
Turkey received only 69,299 visitors from the Philippines last year. While this was already 15.9 percent higher than the 2013 level of 59,734 visitors, the growth rate was still much slower than the average for east Asia of 31.35 percent and the total Asia growth rate last year of 18.17 percent.
D’Archo Travel, which recently flew in a group for a familiarization tour of Turkey, believes that tourist arrivals from the Philippines should be much higher. Turkey, where 99 percent of the population is Muslim, has not been associated with the Bible and the Catholic faith as it should be.
THE House of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus draws visitors of every faith.
“Because many Jews and Christians are not aware of Turkey’s rich Biblical heritage, faith tourism had been slow to develop in Turkey. But people of faith from around the world now visit Turkey in ever increasing numbers,” said Senay. “The negative perception of ‘Muslim country, therefore unsafe’ that has prevented pilgrims from visiting this marvelous land has also fortunately changed in recent years.”
Those who know their history did not let these perceptions prevent them from visiting the country, which figures prominently in the New Testament. After Jesus died, his followers went to Antioch in southeastern Turkey where they began to spread the Gospel. Asia Minor, as Turkey was known then, figured in the writing of most of the 27 books of the New Testament.
It was in Antioch where the followers of Jesus were first called “Christians.” It was also in present-day Turkey, specifically in the ancient city of Ephesus, where the Virgin Mary was supposed to have lived after the death of her son, accompanied by St. John the Apostle, who wrote the Book of Revelations on the island of Patmos.
Records also showed that the apostles Paul, Peter and John laid the foundation stones of churches in Asia Minor, and that it was from Constantinople—present day Istanbul—that the Holy Roman Empire was ruled. Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, was instrumental in the exponential growth of the Christian faith.
And the list of places to see goes on.
For 2015, Senay said, the boutique travel agency’s main focus is to develop the Biblical tour market in the Philippines,
EPHESUS was one of the world’s most impressive Greco-Roman cities
adding that this year is the “best time” to promote Turkey as Turkish Airlines on March 30 started direct flights between Manila and Istanbul.
Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city, has a lot to offer tourists, including the magnificent Hagia Sophia, one of the most celebrated structures in history. For 900 years, it was the center of Christianity before the city fell to the Ottoman Turks.
Aside from the numerous Biblical sites, another factor going for Turkey is the cost.
Because it is not part of the euro zone, even if 3 percent of its land mass is in Europe, its rates are more affordable, with the tour packages estimated to cost just half that of comparable pilgrimage tour packages to Israel.
A group of 20 will only have to pay about $3,500 each via Turkey Airlines for a 10-day pilgrimage tour to Turkey.
THE valley of Cappadocia, one of the most visited regions of Turkey
These factors buoy D’Archo’s optimism of securing more business from the Philippines.
“We believe Turkey will be a rising star in the Philippines with its Biblical heritage, affordable rates and good service quality,” said Eroskay.