Turkey for Indian Travel Agents: Visas, Veg Meals and Group Logistics

Yes, Indian travel agents can work with us directly as their Turkey DMC: Get Turkey Tours is a licensed Turkish operator, a TÜRSAB member with A-group licence A-15751, operated by Viracocha Travel, and we run private, family and group programmes across Turkey with every quote sent in writing. For Indian clients, three things decide whether a Turkey booking goes smoothly: the visa file, the food plan, and the pace for mixed-age families. Our most requested shape for the Indian market is Istanbul plus Cappadocia, shown in our 6-day Istanbul and Cappadocia package with flights and a Bosphorus cruise, from $840 per person.

This page is written for agencies in India. It covers the visa rules and how to time them, flights and the first day, vegetarian and Jain meal planning for groups, families with seniors and children, what we do and do not do for weddings, how our quotes work, and the routes Indian clients ask for most. For the traveller's view, see our page on Istanbul tours for Indian travellers.

The visa file comes first

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, holders of ordinary Indian passports need a visa. Which route a client takes depends on the other visas or permits they already hold.

Passport validity is the other common problem. Under Türkiye's foreigners law, a passport must be valid for at least 60 days beyond the end of the permitted stay, and the Ministry advises at least six months' validity from arrival. Check every passport in a family or group, not just the lead traveller's.

For groups, we suggest a simple rule: collect passport copies and visa status at the deposit stage, and set the final payment date after the visa decisions are expected. Then a refused or delayed visa costs a rooming-list change, not a cancellation fee. Our guide to the Turkey e-Visa for residents explains which supporting documents count, which matters for Indian clients living in the Gulf, Europe or North America.

Flights from India and the first day

Turkish Airlines flies nonstop to Istanbul Airport (IST) from Delhi and Mumbai, a flight of roughly seven hours. Clients from other Indian cities usually connect through Delhi, Mumbai or a Gulf hub. Check which Istanbul airport the ticket uses: Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) is on the Asian side, a different transfer from IST.

Türkiye is two and a half hours behind India all year. Many flights from India land early in the morning, so the first day should be light: transfer, breakfast, a rest, and a short walk or a Bosphorus cruise in the afternoon. A full old-city day on arrival morning is the most common mistake in programmes we receive. Our VIP airport transfer in a private Mercedes Vito is from $60 per group, with the driver waiting in arrivals.

Vegetarian and Jain meals for groups: what to put in the booking

Turkish cooking has a large vegetarian side: lentil soups, olive-oil vegetable dishes served as starters, stuffed vegetables, pastries and salads. The difficulty is not finding vegetarian food but making sure it stays vegetarian. Meat stock in soups and rice, butter, eggs and gelatine in desserts can appear where clients do not expect them.

For a group, the food plan belongs in the booking, not at the table:

1. Count each diet on the rooming list. Vegetarian, vegetarian without egg, Jain, vegan, and any allergies. "Mostly vegetarian" is not enough for a restaurant to prepare.
2. Explain Jain needs precisely. Many Jain travellers avoid onion, garlic, potatoes and other root vegetables. Turkish kitchens use onion and garlic in a large share of dishes, so Jain meals must be requested by name in advance, and some days a simpler menu is the honest answer.
3. Confirm included meals in writing. For every lunch and dinner in the programme, we confirm a vegetarian menu with the restaurant before the trip. Long drive days in Cappadocia and the Aegean need this most, because the lunch stop is chosen for the route.
4. Hotel breakfasts. Turkish hotel breakfasts are usually generous for vegetarians: bread, cheeses, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs, honey and jams. Clients who avoid eggs should know the cooked dishes may contain them.
5. One Indian meal. Istanbul has Indian restaurants, and on longer trips many families like one Indian dinner midway. We can build that into the programme.

Our page on the vegetarian food scene in Istanbul gives clients the dish names and phrases to use.

Families with seniors and children

Indian bookings are often multi-generation: grandparents, parents and children travelling together, sometimes two or three families on one file. The programme has to work for the slowest walker without boring the teenagers.

• Pace. One major site in the morning and a lighter afternoon works better than three monuments in a row. In Istanbul, the old city has cobbles and slopes; the Topkapı Palace courtyards alone are a long walk.
• Vehicles. A private car or van that drops the family close to each entrance saves energy. Our private driver day in a Mercedes Vito for 1 to 6 guests is from $299 per group for 8 hours; larger families need two vans or a minibus.
• Cappadocia terrain. Open-air museums and valley walks involve steps and uneven ground. Tell us about mobility in advance and we plan viewpoints and short walks instead.
• Rooms. Note connecting rooms, extra beds and children's ages on the enquiry; availability varies by hotel and is confirmed in the quote.
• Wheelchairs and airport assistance. Request assistance with the airline at booking. We plan the transfer side around it.

Weddings and celebrations: what we do and what a planner does

Turkey is a popular idea for Indian destination weddings and anniversaries, and agencies often ask whether we can "do the wedding". We want to be clear about this. We are a tour operator, not a wedding planner, and we do not organise the ceremony, the décor, the mandap, the catering for the functions or the entertainment.

What we do run, every day, is the travel around an event once the couple's planner and venue are confirmed:

• Guest transfers between airports, hotels and the venue, timed to the function schedule.
• Sightseeing for guests on the days without functions, in groups or by family.
• Pre- and post-event tours, such as a few days in Cappadocia for the couple, or an Istanbul and Cappadocia extension for relatives.
• A yacht evening on the Bosphorus for a smaller celebration, an engagement or an anniversary. Our mega yacht for 1 to 40 guests is from $1,000 per hour.

If your client is still choosing a planner or venue, we can tell you what we would need from them to run the guest logistics, but the event itself should be contracted with a specialist. For couples after the wedding, our Turkey honeymoon packages from India page covers the usual routes.

How our quotes work for Indian agencies

We do not publish agency or net rates. Each enquiry gets a written quote for that programme: day-by-day route, hotels or hotel category, domestic flights if included, guide days and language, meals with the diet plan, entrance tickets where included, the currency, how long the quote is valid, and the payment and cancellation terms for that booking. The public prices on our site are shown in US dollars.

Your side of the sale stays with you: your client contract, the international flights if you sell them, travel insurance and the Indian tax and remittance rules that apply to overseas tour packages sold in India, including tax collected at source. Ask your accountant how those rules apply to your booking; our invoice states the services and the currency clearly so your paperwork is straightforward.

To get a fast quote, send in the first message:

• dates or the travel month, and the number of nights;
• the number of adults, children with ages, and seniors;
• the rooming list shape and hotel level;
• the diet count and any mobility needs;
• the regions or the client's interests;
• guide language; English is our standard, and other languages, including Hindi, are arranged on request, subject to availability.

Our Turkey tour operator page explains our private and group formats, and partner enquiries start on the travel agents page.

The routes Indian clients ask for most

The patterns below come up again and again in Indian enquiries. Each can be adjusted, and the prices are our public starting prices, not agency rates.

The Turkey and Dubai combination is popular because the two are a direct flight apart, but Indian passport holders need two visas; our Turkey and Dubai from India page explains the paperwork. For holiday timing across 2027, including the Diwali week around Friday 29 October, see our Turkey trip from India in 2027 guide.

Tours that cover this

Programmes Indian agencies most often adapt, with their public starting prices:

• Istanbul and Cappadocia Tour Package: 6 Days with Flights and Cruise, from $840 per person.
• Turkey Tour Package 8 Days: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus and Pamukkale, from $2,250 per person.
• Turkey and Dubai Tour Package 10 Days: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Abu Dhabi, from $2,900 per person.
• Istanbul Airport VIP Transfer: Private Mercedes Vito to Your Hotel, from $60 per group.

Frequently Asked Questions