Address: Barbaros Blv. No:159 Gunaydin Apt. Gayrettepe,
34349 Besiktas-Istanbul-Turkiye
Phone: +90 212 299 99 80
Fax: +90 212 299 99 79
E-mail: info@ods.com.tr
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"There is hope after despair and many suns after darkness" |
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Dear there, I wanted to express my hope that you, your loved ones and your colleagues Here we all tried to stay positive and found some time to have fun and to smile. What happened in Turkey ? Naturally Turkey is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic and has suffered its bitter share. As of the 30th of May, the total number of confirmed total cases is 163.100, of which 127.000 The rapid increase of confirmed cases in Turkey did not overburden the public health care system, and the fatality rate remained significantly lower compared to many European countries. The reasons suggested for this is both Turkey’s relatively young population, and its high number of intensive care units available. The travel industry in Turkey, as everywhere else in the world, came to a standstill and has been one of the most affected. Our industry, which accounts for 10% of the GDP, has borne the brunt of the damage wrought by lock-downs Turkey has in recent days been revving up efforts to reopen to business and tourism gradually, Turkey has started detailed certification programs for all hotels, outlets, and all travel related services and service providers. All restrictions to the citizens and establishments are lifted as of the 1st of June with the new protocols intact. In a nutshell, Turkey seems ready as of June to welcome everybody with the new norms. What happened at odsturkey ?
We took the decision to work from home in the 1st week of March and closed our offices as of the 13th of March. With the priority of keeping the team safe during the pandemic, and with our emphasis on flexible office hours and on decentralization, we were uniquely positioned to respond quickly and move to working from home. Backed with a solid technological base and platform, we have proved in the past few months to be very successful at it. We plan to reopen as of 30th of June, but if any of our team members are in a role and situation to work from home and they want to continue to do so, we will make that happen. If not, our offices will be our warm and welcoming homes, with some additional precautions. We’re proud of the early action we took to protect the health of our team and community, As a team, we managed to meet in the virtual environment daily and communicated extensively with all our clients on possible scenarios and updates. The first month was intense, as we worked on either cancellations or postponements. I am proud to say that we managed this period well and showed maximum flexibility, sympathy, and empathy to all parties. Our experience in Risk & Crisis Management, and the expertise we have of overcoming similar challenges that Turkey has had a high share of in recent years, were our assets to master this period. Internally we set achievable targets, like enhancing some specific product lines, creating new templates, Externally we tried to share as much as possible positive vibes and launched several video
We added our contributions to both the local and the global community and took an active part in various industry platforms, either as speakers or listeners. We initiated several educational and social gatherings to enhance the resilience of our industry and gave our experience and knowledge. We also used the opportunity to educate ourselves, taking advantage of the full range of options created globally during these times.
I wanted to address you personally to update you about both Turkey and our company,
I wish to conclude with a quote of Albert Camus: |