Weddings to flourish at Atatürk's childhood home

One of Greece's biggest tourism agencies, Mouzenidis Group, is planning wedding tours to Atatürk House Museum in Thessaloniki to alleviate the effects of the current economic meltdown in Greece. The travel agency has already contacted İzmir-based travel agencies, many of which are positive on the request. The economic crisis has led Greek businesspeople to resort to alternative investments. As the crisis hit the tourism industry, Mouzenidis Group, which is comprised of 20 sub-companies, has offered wedding tours to Turkish agencies. Dimitrios Gkazias, the group's owner, contacted Regional Executive Committee of Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB) President Rıza Gencay and stressed that Turkish tourists can organize weddings at Atatürk House Museum. As Turkish tourists generally prefer Athens, Santorini and Rhodes Island as a wedding venue, they can also choose the house of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, and get married surrounded by a historical atmosphere. Previously interested in the Russian market, Mouzenidis Group will also start flights from İzmir to Thessaloniki and are working on a travel package including the wedding venue. Gencay said the company's offer is very creative. "Weddings might be held inside the house or in the garden of the museum. Tourism can be increased in this way, as the offer is very appealing. We asked them to plan a package which will be both affordable and good quality. Mouzenidis Group attracted 550,000 tourists from Russia and wants to enter the Turkish market. Turkey has enough potential if a well-balanced package is planned with competitive prices," he said, adding that more Turkish tourists will then start preferring northern Greece.