Istanbul on Food

Istanbul on Food is a small family business ran by 2 culinary enthusiasts and cultural experts who have hand-picked every element of the tours offered so to create unforgettable Istanbul memory.

It operates variety of food tours for taste lovers. These include tours named `The taste of 2 continents`, `Flavours of the Old city`, `Tèksim Evening Food Tour` and private food tours. The tour packages promise unique journey with sample tastings from one of the best food shops and local restaurants. The tours are designed as an off-the-beaten-path immersion inside Istanbul’s cuisine and a glimpse of Turkish culture and daily life. They provide sample tastings from homemade dishes and street foods to traditional kebabs in eateries and restaurants from neighbourhoods and backstreets of the city. Thus, the tours set up a unique journey through the not-so-popular parts of the city.

Marketing approach

Since the company is not the only one offering that type of guided tours it has undertaken a marketing approach that puts emphasis on the unexplored city neighbourhoods and backstreets where many eateries and restaurants that offer traditional foods are located.

The company advertise themselves in quite traditional way – own website and i-sites for booking and sharing experience (e.g. via TripAdvisor, etc.). The focus is on the personal experience and the tours are organized for very small groups – up to 8 people. However, due to a high-rate of user responses the company is among the top-rated ones.

Financial situation

All offered tours are balanced in their price offer – since that is a family ran business, its founders guide most of the tours and thus, decrease the personal costs. The organization conducts with priority those tours which make it popular and distinguishable from the other competitors. That indeed means that tours with low interest are not already on the market.

Key success factors and challenges

Key factors for company success:

• Focus on hidden, not-so-popular places that provide best traditional dishes;
• Balanced price-experience rate;
• Good quality and customer-experience orientation that provides positive feedback and lists the company`s tours among the top 10.

The key challenge is the number of tours that can be organized within certain period.

Plans for future development

Managerial plans refer to expansion of the team so more than 1 tour can be organized and as well as further enrichment of tour portfolio.

Source of the images: https://istanbulonfood.com/