Ticket offices to boost jobs for women


Some 10,000 women will be employed in a landmark affirmative action project by a local tourism employers’ union.

"Biletçi," meaning "ticket seller" in Turkish, is the brainchild of the Union of Employers of Tourism and Travel Agencies (TURSAS) to drive ticket sales. The project, which follows a similar model in the Netherlands that employs some 60,000 women, has been proposed to the government.

TURSAS Chairman Yılmaz Sönmez says if the government endorses the project, they will set up Biletçi offices which will be staffed only by women. There, they will sell tourism services, from airplane tickets, bus tickets and hotel bookings to package tours and car rentals.

The union plans to train 10,000 women for six months on tourism marketing and travel agency operations, in addition to an entrepreneurship training in cooperation with the country’s employment agency İŞKUR.