Istanbul Tour Studio — Local services in Beyoğlu

I contacted Istanbul Tour Studio to help us run a treasure hunt at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul for 200 people during our annual conference. We knew we wanted our participants to experience Turkish culture and get them out of the hotel whilst spending time with colleagues who they may not see regularly.

Sinan and his team were professional in their approach and quick with their responses and we were able to deliver an excellent event within a few short weeks. They listened to our ideas and limitations and made sensible and practical suggestions to enhance the logistics, safety and engagement and create a personalised experience for our team.

The treasure hunt was managed via an app that participants downloaded to their phones and was supported with 4G hotspots. This eliminated the need to use large amounts of data or access the Turkish mobile network and overcame the network deadzone within the Grand Bazaar. This was a fantastic idea and meant our teams could upload photos and video to share afterwards.

Many of the participants are Purchasers, who negotiate as part of their job and are naturally competitive. As well as photo challenges and general knowledge questions, we gave each team 350 TL and they were tasked with buying the most pashminas and gloves for their budget, which were donated to charity afterwards. The participants loved this part of the challenge – the interaction with the shopkeepers in the Grand Bazaar, the negotiation and trying to get more for their money than the other teams and the donations to a good cause.

Ultimately, the success of any event like this is measured by the participants and the feedback, and ours was universally positive:

“Very well organised and slick” “Worked perfectly with digital and real time action” “It was perfect” “The best team building we’ve done”

Thank you Sinan and the rest of the ITS team for your efforts. It really was an...

From the beginning to the end it was a memorable experience. A professional team with excellent service. Communication was outstanding, everything was throughly explained in detail. It’s not always easy choosing a tour company but we definitely would recommend Istanbul Tour Studios for all your travel needs, they fully customized a trip for our diverse family of 9. The personal recommendations never disappointed they exceeded all our expectations, we range from teens to adults and everyone had a wonderful experience. We started our journey in Cappadocia with Nihat Yilmaz, he is a wonderful guide that went above and beyond to make our experience in Cappadocia memorable. His knowledge of the area and history kept us engaged throughout the three days. He was always ready to answer any questions and had a friendly disposition that made it so easy to talk to him. Our guide, Yasemin showed us the best of Istanbul, she is professional, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. She surpassed all our expectations. Istanbul Tour Studios is worthy of the five stars and beyond...

We had an outstanding experience using Istanbul Tour Studio. Sinan provided us with a customized itinerary that met our needs perfectly. My wife and I are very particular about tours and are cautious to choose tour companies that have strong local knowledge, are flexible in their approach, and can go off the beaten path. We travel extensively and always travel independently. Istanbul Tour Studio met our needs perfectly. We took a customized walking tour our first day in Istanbul and it exceeded our expectations. The tour combined knowledge and exposure to the main attractions, while finding and providing unique experiences along the way. From stopping at an off the beaten path coffee shop, to getting lunch at the grand bazaar with no tourist around (yes there was actually a great spot Sinan showed us) we thoroughly enjoyed our trip...