Türkiye'nin İlk ve Tek Cruise Temalı Seyahat Dergisi

Cengiz Deveci, Chairman of Honest Holding and Honorary Consul of Paraguay in Istanbul

As Honest Holding, you have a long history. Could you tell us a little about yourself first?

As Honest Holding, we are an agency established as Honest Tourism in 1999. Currently, we have 22 companies and 1200 employees in total. We have been operating for 23 years.

You hold the title of Honorary Consul of Paraguay? You seem to have close ties to Latin America. Where does this closeness come from?

Yes, I have been the honorary consul of Paraguay in Istanbul since 2019. We have relations with Latin America for many years, both due to my travels and the fact that we do business in that continent. In the last few years, we have various investments in Latin America in that sense. For example, we brought Juan Valdez, the biggest brand of Colombia, to Turkey as the master distributor. At the same time, we are taking on a company structure that has reached approximately 60 branches in 5 years and that waves the flag of Colombia in Turkey.

We have experienced a great pandemic worldwide. How were you, as Honest Holding, affected by this period?

As Honest Holding, we were seriously affected in the first 6 months, as we are also a tourism-based holding. But I think we are the company of crises. Our crisis reflexes, which started with Gezi Park in 2013 and continued with the coup attempt in 2016, have strengthened. Related to this, when we entered 2020, we actually became more successful with other companies equivalent to us in the market. In fact, we have made investments in 2020 and 2021 that we have never made before, and at the same time, we have realized these investments by gaining very serious advantages at the optimum price level.

You have very strong investments in the field of tourism. Miray Cruise Line is one of the most striking investments of the last period in this field. Can you tell us a little bit about Miray Cruise Line?

We acquired the Miray cruise ship in 2022. Miray cruise is a very valuable ship that has made a very serious brand in its past, has become a leader in its sector, plays for leadership especially in the Greek islands and has become the focus of attention of the citizens of the Republic of Turkey in its operation. In the previous period, we entered into a partnership with the owner of the ship, both within the framework of the sales networks we have and by combining the right management method with a good product. In the next 10 years, we will increase the number of ships we own and fly the Miray Cruise Line flag on various continents around the world. I would like to add that since we are a company of Turkish origin, all revenues will come to Turkey and we will provide employment.

Could you tell us about your 2022 plans and predictions as Miray Cruise Line?

Our expectations for 2022 are high in this sense. We see that approximately 300,000 people made cruises in 2019. Many ships docked at Turkish ports. There are also other ports such as Istanbul Airport and Galataport. This is an indication that we will host more Cruise ships. At the beginning of 2022, we joined the forces of the two companies by incorporating the Miray Cruise Line ship, which had been experiencing serious problems for two years, and I think that we will meet the serious quality and price standards in the coming period.

M/V Gemini will make Greek Island Tours departing from Çeşme. Will there be participation in these tours from abroad?

The ship will depart from Çeşme; It will stop at various islands such as Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Piraeus, Athens, Kos. We expect a very serious contribution from abroad. Because it will host not only Turkish guests on tour, but also approximately half the capacity of the ship from Latin America, Asia and the European continent. At the same time, we marketed our cabins and sold most of them, as a foreign currency inflow to our country.

Can you tell us a little bit about cruise for cruise lovers and those who are new to cruise?

Cruise experience is a very separate sector of tourism. One of the biggest advantages of traveling on a cruise ship is the freedom to visit many destinations, disembark at many ports and travel to the city or country, by checking in and checking out once. Cruise is a dream for many, a philosophy of life for many, and a honeymoon spot for many. In this sense, we are also waiting for Greek Islands tours especially for our newly married couples to make their honeymoon.

You entered the sector with Greek Islands tours. Do you have any suggestions for those who will participate in this tour?

I would especially recommend our guests who will participate in Greek Islands tours to see the beauties, gastronomy and historical places of that island on the island they go to. At the same time, we have beautiful packages that consist of the beaches that only we can enter and the restaurants we have chosen. My advice to cruise lovers is that they should definitely participate in the tours on the islands while they have had these experiences.

Have you ever had a cruise experience before? Can you tell us a little about your experiences?

I had a cruise tour, of course. I have traveled to different destinations on various continents, with various brands. I especially participated in a cruise from Barcelona, which I can't forget. We traveled in destinations such as Majorca, Malta, Sicily. It was a beautiful cruise ship and the destinations we went to were beautiful.

Is there a destination you would love to go to but couldn't?

As someone who has traveled to many parts of Europe, America, Latin America and Mediterranean countries, there are cruises to the Baltic Sea that I can't get enough of and also want to go on a cruise. Frankly, I would like to go there by visiting different parts of the countries with a cruise tour. Hopefully I will be doing this tour.

If we were to convince our readers to join the Greek Islands tour with M/V Gemini, what would you say?

I would especially recommend cruise tourism to all our readers, as I think that it is a tour that will include people from various nationalities, visit the most beautiful islands of Greece such as Mykonos Santorini, Piraeus, and find four-star love in the country for the price of a four-star hotel. Of course, we would like them to join the tours and share with us by choosing our Miray Cruise Line ship, which offers a guarantee of quality service in the Greek Islands.