Londonist Turquoise Summit took place between September 29th and October 1st at Kaya Artemis Resort Hotel in Northern Cyprus. The summit celebrated the tenth anniversary of Londonist DMC. This special event brought together our esteemed partners and dedicated team members from across the globe for a truly extraordinary occasion, as we came together to celebrate the legacy and accomplishments of Londonist. 

First Day of the Turquoise Summit

Londonist celebrated its tenth anniversary in Northern Cyprus at Kaya Artemis Resort Hotel between September 29th and October 1st, 2023. Titled the Turquoise Summit named after the pristine turquoise waters of Northern Cyprus, the summit was a success thanks to Londonist’s hardworking team members, wonderful guests and speakers. The event started with Londonist founder and managing director, Asim Erturk’s speech and continued with a motivational speech by Thom Jones. Thom Jones’s motivational speech worked like an ice breaker with the summit attendees as well as truly a motivational speech to test someone’s boundaries and how to excel at life. All team members have also given their departmental presentations, providing the latest updates on the newest projects of each department. The first day ended with welcome cocktails at night. 

Second Day of the Turquoise Summit

The second day started with Asim Erturk’s Londonist Global Group Presentation and it was a complete success. The presentation told the story of Londonist and how it came to celebrate its tenth anniversary. The rest of the day was reserved for panels and seminars simultaneously. Guests were able to attend any panel or seminar they wished based on their interests. 

Morning Panel and Seminars

The first panel was aptly named “Digitalisation in International Education Industry, Innovative Go-to-Market Strategies. How Is Technology Enhancing Student Experience?” As the moderator, Yasmine Alice successfully directed the conversation flow of the panelists who are esteemed businesspeople. Panellists, Onur Yaldizkaya (Founder, Idealist), Hannah Chappate (CEO, Hybr), Susan Fang (CEO and Co-founder of OxBridge Holdings), Zeenat Fayaz (Brand education), Lesinda Leightley (Director of English Test Marketing PSI Services), Dinara Suleimanova (Senior Business Development Manager – Londonist DMC) talked about how digitalisation changed the education industry and made it more global than ever. Because of their positions, all panellists gave demonstrations and examples of new go-to-market strategies which they implemented for their work and how they excelled in the student accommodation industry in general. Simultaneously, there were two seminars in the other conference rooms. Arda Sayiner taught The Essentials of Networking as a brand consultant and journalist. Networking has been the propelling force of his work as a brand consultant and journalist. His presentation demonstrated how networking can move someone’s professional work drastically forward. Engin Ozeren’s seminar “Effective Sales Techniques and Communication” was demonstrative and intrigued all attendees and illuminated how effective sales techniques can boost a worker’s sales as well as their performance with better communication. 

Afternoon Panel and Seminars

After a hearty lunch organised by the beautiful Kaya Artemis Resort’s brilliant chefs, the second part of the panels and seminars started with full force. The second panel was about factors impacting the student accommodation sector in 2023 and what people can expect from the future. Arda Sayiner was the moderator for the panel and esteemed professionals Maria Hatch (Senior Director, Greystar Europe Holdings Ltd), David Seymour (Director, Amber Student), Vicki Zhang (VP, Uhomes), Saurabh Arora (Founder & CEO University Living), Tariq Akbar (Head of Operations, Downing Students), Umang Gandecha (Executive Director – Londonist Global) were the speakers for this panel. They discussed how the pandemic of 2020 impacted the student accommodation sector and how companies acted in light of quarantines and the pandemic in general. But the panel was not limited to the limitations of the pandemic. They also discussed what student accommodation sector can renew itself and come up with new strategies in terms of our very global world. During the panel, students’ wellbeing and having a feeling of being at home were the emphasis for our panellists. The simultaneous seminars were held by Engin Ozeren and Nicola Lutz. After his morning seminar, Engin Ozeren talked about resilience in challenging conditions this time. His seminar had exercises for the attendees and held the attendees’ attention during the whole seminar. As the owner and the CEO of No Fluff, Nicola Lutz’s seminar was about how to boost sales and build partner relationships. As Nicola Lutz’s seminar showed, the attendees learned that boosting sales was the short-term goal of a company and building partner relationships was always the long-term goal and a company’s success.

The Big Gala

The second day ended with the anticipated gala dinner accompanied by the Erdem Ozkan Quartet. During the gala, the guests first got the chance to listen to the inspirational presentation of Susan Fang. Her outstanding journey to success left a profound impact on everyone present, evoking admiration and awe. As her presentation concluded, the audience rose in unison, offering her a well-deserved standing ovation. During the gala dinner, the founder and the managing director of Londonist, Asim Erturk celebrated Londonist team members most thoughtfully and encouragingly possible. Team members who made their mark in Londonist got rewarded with plaques and took the stage for their success with Asim Erturk. After presenting the partners of Londonist with specially designed limited-edition Londonist 10th Year plates for their support and motivation to excel at Londonist for ten years, the night ended with the Dilek Sert Erdogan Band. Dilek Sert Erdogan and her band performed classics like Superstition by Stewie Wonder, I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor and Venus by Shocking Blue. All attendees but especially the Londonist team members danced their hearts out to celebrate the gala and ten years of excellence. 

Final Day of the Turquoise Summit

On their final day, October 1st, all guests attended a meditation session with the ever-successful Prof. Dr. Ender Saraç. The meditation rejuvenated all attendees before Ender Saraç’s Healthy Lifestyle Lessons. The Turquoise Summit ended with a 10th Anniversary Group Photoshoot and closing remarks by Umang Gandecha (Executive Director – Londonist Global) & Dinara Suleimanova (Senior Business Development & Partnership Manager – Londonist DMC). 

The Turquoise Summit showed how the student accommodation sector can only thrive if the right strategies are implemented and students’ well-being is the focus of business decisions.