A proposal of airport marketing plan for an effective airport management: A study on marketing operations of Istanbul airport

Nowadays, airports are no longer a system where passengers can only move to use airport transportation, but they have been transformed into a living environment. Airport systems, where various services are offered and commercial activities are carried out together, when they are managed effectively and efficiently, have the most important share in the economic and social development of the cities and regions where they are located. Therefore, airport marketing is inevitable since the competition within the airport industry is increasing. This study aims to demonstrate the importance of the marketing activities, to create awareness for the importance of marketing airports for the airport operators and to prepare the step by step marketing guidelines suitable to conditions in Turkey that will be able to support the airport operators in Turkey. In this study, situation analysis has been performed by conducting a descriptive study within the context of qualitative research method to reveal the situation of the marketing of airports in Turkey and global airport marketing approach. Face to face semi-structured interviews were conducted with the research questions that were formed as a result of the literature research. As a result of the study, it was observed that depending on both public ownerships and monopolistic structures, the importance of marketing activities of the public airports in Turkey are underrated. However, based on changing environment of the airport industry, the needed awareness of technological, economical, and social structures of airports was captured by the public sector as well. The study presents the guide and the steps that will lead to success in airport marketing activities that will provide competitive advantage in order to be one of the important actors in the global airport market.