Around The World Hospitality: Turkey
Making Space For Joy With The Hospitality Group
Destination 2: Turkey
Throughout my 6 years at The Hospitality Group, I was lucky enough to travel the world experiencing some of the biggest sporting events, and meeting lifelong friends that have now become family. This series of blogs will explore in depth each destination throughout the journey to CAPE, highlighting the hospitality elements, exploring the many venues we frequented, and taking time to appreciate those little moments of joy we brought to our guests.
If you’re new here, we recommend taking a quick minute to read more on our backstory here. Ready? Let’s get going!
The Turkish Grand Prix: 2010
Held at Istanbul Park on 30th May 2010, the Turkish Grand Prix was the seventh round of the F1 championship and the sixth Turkish Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren won the race with teammate Jenson Button coming close behind in second and Australian Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing in third. The race was electric from beginning to end. Webber, who started in pole position, took a heavy collision with teammate Vettel, causing him to fall behind and delivering the perfect opening for Hamilton to steam ahead.
Stadium Spotlight:
The Turkish Grand Prix was held at Istanbul Park, a 3.314 mile circuit with numerous elevation changes and the challenging triple-apex Turn 8 (nicknamed ‘Diabolica’ for a reason…). Since it’s opening in 2005, Istanbul Park has quickly established itself as one of the great circuits in the F1 rotation. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, attention was once again brought back to the park as it hosted the Formula 1 in both 2020 and 2021.
Hospitality Venue Spotlight: The Green Park Pendik
The Green Park Hotel is situated in Pendik, a bustling and vibrant district sat just outside of the city center. It’s one of the few districts where road, rail and air transport is available for all visitors. Green Park has quickly become of the best hotels in the area, offering guests 4-star facilities including a spa and wellness center, pleasure pool, a restaurant, event services and luxurious rooms complete with refreshing waterfall showers.
Going The Distance:
“I stayed an extra night in Turkey so that I could catch up with my now sister-in-law Ozzy. Istanbul is not a small city and we were miles away on the other side, but Ozzy’s friend graciously agreed to drive the 3-hour round trip to pick me up and bring me over to Taksim Square for a night of local hospitality and introduction to the famous Raki. She must have known from some of our nights out in London that I was no lightweight, but I’m not sure her friends expected me to be able to take quite so many shots of the country’s signature drink and still stand to tell the tale.
I remember while I was waiting at the hotel for them to arrive, the manager on duty suggested I should hitch a ride with Jenson and the F1 team taking a boat over to the European side... Ozzy told me I should have taken the opportunity, but I didn’t feel I could ditch them and had no way of getting in touch with them once they were on their way. Think back to those times when you didn’t have a mobile phone at your fingertips… that in itself I think is joy!”
Hospitality Covered:
The CAPE team would go on to have many more opportunities to enjoy plenty of post F1 parties around the world, and have returned to Istanbul for football, basketball, and weddings!
Do you have a corporate event or sports event coming up in Turkey that you need some assistance with? Get in touch with our team of hospitality and event logistics experts today to discuss your needs.
