AP Television
Istanbul, Turkey, 27 April 2010
1. Wide shot Blue Mosque
2. Close up detail of Blue Mosque
3. Pan to Hagia Sophia
4. Mid shot of man holding boy, both wearing red fez
5. Wide shot tourists walking past carpet shop
6. Mid shot carpets on display
7. Mid shot tea vendor bringing tea to carpet sellers
8. Close up tea being stirred in iconic tulip shaped glass
9. Pan from two men eating to donner kebab shop
10. Wide shot donner kebab seller sharpening knives and cutting meat
11. Close up donner kebab being cut
12. Various man playing flute
13. Pan souvenir stall to selection of Istanbul guide books
14. Close up Istanbul guide books
15. Wide shot people walking through Grand Bazaar
16. Mid shot people walking through Grand Bazaar
17. Mid shot woman looking at earrings
18. Close up earring in woman's hand
19. Set up shot Aysem Erginoglu Michaelson
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Aysem Erginoglu Michaelson, Tour guide:
"Well they (tourists) definitely are very attracted from (by) the concept of the East is meeting the West. And this is the ideal place for where they can sort of link to the culture in a way because they know some about the past of Turkey and Turks, like in terms of Ottomans and in terms of the appetite of culture. And still it's a modern country, but they can find the oriental flair over here and they can feel this exotic atmosphere which they like a lot."
21. Close up glass candle light holders
22. Pan up from scarves to woman haggling for price
23. Mid shot Turkish flags above market stall
AP Television
Istanbul, Turkey, 29 April 2010
24. Mid shot people sitting on ferry boat looking at water
25. Wide shot Blue Mosque (left) and Hagia Sofia (right) as seen from ferry boat
26. Mid shot tourists taking photo
27. Wide shot coastline of B�y�kada Princes Island
28. Pan seafront B�y�kada Princes Island
29. Close up women drinking tea
30. Wide shot man weaving flower headbands
31. Close up man weaving flower headbands
32. Close up girls wearing flower headbands
33. Mid shot horse-drawn carriage
34. Pan horses
35. Set up shot Hasan Unal
36. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Hasan Unal, Horse Drawn Carriage Drivers Union Leader:
"Horse-drawn carriages are the primary source of transportation on the island. There are 225 horse carriages in this Island which operate all year round."
37. Tilt down Splendid Palace Hotel to horse-drawn carriage passing
38. Mid shot windows
39. Mid shot hotel room with open windows
40. Pan view from hotel room
41. Tilt down foyer inside hotel
42. Close up photo of soldier outside hotel during Greco-Turkish war years (1919-1922)
43. Mid shot photo of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (middle) with people at hotel
44. Set up shot Omer Hayyam
45. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Omer Hayyam, Hotel manager:
"The tourism is based on day to day tourism. Since it's so close to the city, people tend to go back to the city as opposed to staying over for a few nights."
46. Mid shot woman drinking beer
AP Television
Istanbul, Turkey, 26 April 2010
47. Wide shot boats with ships in foreground
48. Various boats
AP Television
Istanbul, Turkey, 27 April 2010
49. Various set up shots of Erkunt Oner
50. SOUNDBITE (English) Erkunt Oner, Tura Turizm:
"We have observed a certain decline of the quality of passengers, but not on the quantity of passengers. All the ships were full as they used to be but the quality, I think the rates have been decreased so the quality of the participants were a bit lower than the previous years."
51. Various people walking around Spice Market
52. SOUNDBITE (English) Aysem Erginoglu Michaelson, Tourist guide:
"Thankfully we didn't feel a real impact. I mean last year we were a bit worried because this is something which people cut as the first thing from their budgets, but for some reason Turkey was quite attractive, especially Istanbul and this year it is also going on in a good way."
53. Pan display of Turkish delight and baklava
54. Mid shot woman looking at spice display
55. Pan spices
AP Television
Istanbul, Turkey, 28 April 2010
56. SOUNDBITE (English) Sally Lennon, Tourist from the United States, Voxpop:
"We love it, it's way more sophisticated than we thought it was going to be."
SOUNDBITE (English) Locky Markusson, Tourist from the United States, Voxpop:
"Much more. A lot of diversity, great shopping, we keep thinking we're doing cultural things, we get side-tracked with shopping."
57. SOUNDBITE (English) Eugenio Stanci, Tourist from Italy, Voxpop:
"I think it's an exciting city and a melting pot of cultures, I like it."
58. SOUNDBITE (English) Paul Cost, Tourist from Australia, Voxpop:
"Just the history, it goes back so far. I mean we're from Australia, our history starts about 200 years ago, this goes back 2000 years. So it's very interesting."
AP Television
Istanbul, Turkey, 29 April 2010
59. Wide shot bridge that divides Europe (left) from Asia (right)
60. Mid shot boat on Bosphorus, with Istanbul written on it
LEAD IN
Welcome to Istanbul, where East meets West in a unique multicultural atmosphere.
Tourists from around the world flock to this historic city to experience a taste of the orient in a Western setting.
The Call to Prayer at the Blue Mosque.
Opposite, the Hagia Sophia, a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque and now a museum.
We're in the heart of Istanbul, in the old Sultanahmet district.
The former hippodrome of Constantinople is an essential part of any tourist trip.
The surrounding streets offering a romantic impression of oriental life.
Carpet sellers drink Turkish tea (cay), and the smell of donner kebab wafts down the street. .
Tourists are everywhere, and so are stalls selling souvenirs, from jewellery to ceramics, textiles and carpets.
The Grand Bazaar is a shopping heaven, but also a labyrinth out of which most visitors emerge with more than they had planned to buy.
Aysem Erginoglu Michaelson is a German-Turkish tour guide who has been showing people from all over the world around Istanbul for 22 years.
She says tourists are attracted to the city's cultural diversity.
"Well they definitely are very attracted from the concept of the East is meeting the West. And this is the ideal place for where they can sort of link to the culture in a way because they know some about the past of Turkey and Turks, like in terms of Ottomans and in terms of the appetite of culture. And still it's a modern country, but they can find the oriental flair over here and they can feel this exotic atmosphere which they like a lot," she says.
At the numerous Istanbul bazaar stalls, haggling is encouraged.
Popular items to take home are these Turkish glass lights (10 Turkish Lira / $6.3 US Dollars) as well as scarves and spices.
But why spend all day in the dark mazes of the bazaars when the sun is shining outside?
To make the most of Istanbul's Mediterranean climate, a day trip to the Princes Islands is a good option.
The nine islands lie off the Asian coast of Istanbul in the Sea of Marmara.
A 90-minute-ride on a passenger ferry takes you to B�y�kada ('big island'), the largest of the Princes Islands at 5.46 square kilometres (3.39 square miles).
Here, people are greeted by a relaxed atmosphere, which seems miles away from the buzz of Istanbul.
It seems like time has stood still on B�y�kada: old men are making flower hairbands.
Horse-drawn carriages offer the main means of transport - a romantic way to explore the small island.
Hasan Unal is the Horse Drawn Carriage Drivers Union Leader.
"Horse-drawn carriages are the primary source of transportation on the island. There are 225 horse carriages in this Island which operate all year round," he says.
In the 19th and early 20th century when steamboats became common, the Princes Islands became a popular retreat for Istanbul's wealthy residents, who built wooden houses on the islands.
A remnant of these grand times is the Splendid Palace Hotel.
Built in 1908, the historic building has welcomed celebrities as well as Ataturk, Turkey's first president.
Here, you can get a room with a view.
The hotel has 70 rooms and 4 suites and can accommodate 134 guests.
Prices range from $80 US Dollars for a single room ($90 US Dollars sea view) to $210 US Dollars for a four person suite.
But Splendid Palace Hotel is rarely full.
Hotel manager Omer Hayyam explains that most tourists are daytrippers who leave the island in the evening.
"The tourism is based on day to day tourism. Since it's so close to the city, people tend to go back to the city as opposed to staying over for a few nights," he says.
The recession has impacted on tourism to Turkey.
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, tourism income decreased by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2010 (January, February and March) compared to the same period of the previous year.
Tourism income reached more than $2 billion US dollars ($2,413,524,810 in total ) in the first quarter of 2010, a total of 3,752,720 people visiting.
$1,737,060,723 US Dollars of this income was obtained from foreign visitors, $676,464,087 US Dollars was from Turkish citizens residing outside Turkey.
Overall, tourism income in Turkey in 2009 was ($21 Billion) $21,249,334,582 US Dollars, with a total of 32,006,149 people visiting.
Erkunt Oner, the CEO of cruise tour operator Tura Turizm, says the type of people visiting has changed since the global economic crisis.
"We have observed a certain decline of the quality of passengers, but not on the quantity of passengers. All the ships were full as they used to be but the quality, I think the rates have been decreased so the quality of the participants were a bit lower than the previous years," he says.
Tourist guide Aysem Erginoglu Michaelson says, although she was initially worried, she didn't feel the recession.
"Thankfully we didn't feel a real impact. I mean last year we were a bit worried because this is something which people cut as the first thing from their budgets, but for some reason Turkey was quite attractive, especially Istanbul and this year it is also going on in a good way," she says.
It might help that Istanbul is this year's European Capital of Culture 2010, attracting additional tourists interested in the vast cultural programme the city has to offer.
Sally Lennon and Locky Markusson, tourists from the United States, say they really love their trip to Istanbul, especially the shopping.
"A lot of diversity, great shopping, we keep thinking we're doing cultural things, we get side-tracked with shopping," says Markusson.
Eugenio Stanci from Italy says he likes the city's diversity.
"I think it's an exciting city and a melting pot of cultures, I like it," he says.
Australian tourist Paul Cost says he is impressed by Istanbul's history.
"Just the history, it goes back so far. I mean we're from Australia, our history starts about 200 years ago, this goes back 2000 years. So it's very interesting."
Istanbul, the city that links Europe to Asia, remains an attractive destination for tourists to experience the unique atmosphere of the East meeting the West.
