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The story

From inheritance to vision

On his father's side, the voice of tradespeople; on his mother's, the voice of the Balkans; in the next generation, that inheritance speaks up for tourism.

Studio portrait of Dursun Bülent Tercan, photographed from the front

Three acts

Three strands of one identity: inheritance, thirty years in business and leadership in the industry.

I — Roots

A life in İzmir

A childhood spent between trade chambers and party congresses either drives a person away from this city or makes them İzmirli to the bone.

The Clock Tower rising among palm trees in Konak Square
Konak Clock Tower, İzmir · Photo: Hilmi Can Taşkıran / Unsplash

An İzmirli in substance, not in name.

Father and uncle

Two inheritances

Two separate stories stand behind Dursun Bülent Tercan: one belonging to the tradespeople, one to the Balkans.

Father

Cemal Tercan

Born in Bayburt in 1933, he settled in İzmir with his family and graduated from the blacksmithing programme of Mithatpaşa Industrial Vocational High School. He founded the İzmir Union of Tradesmen's and Small Craftsmen's Associations and led it as president for thirty-three years; he later became the fourth president of the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK). He pioneered the founding of İzmir's 1st Industrial Estate and established TERBAY Makina. He represented tradespeople and craftsmen in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye for three terms, in 1973–1980 and 1991–1995.

He served tradespeople for forty-four years. He died on 9 December 2025 at the age of ninety-two; those who loved him called him simply “Cemal Baba” — Father Cemal.

Cemal Tercan’s life and archive (in Turkish)

Maternal uncle

Ahmet Kemal Baysak

The elder brother of his mother, Nermin Tercan. He graduated from the same school as Cemal Tercan, and the two founded TERBAY Makina together as partners. He served as mayor of Karşıyaka from 1994 to 1999, was then appointed honorary consul of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and took part in founding the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Cultural Associations of Türkiye, becoming its first president.

Those roles wove a bond of more than thirty years between the family and İzmir's Bosnian and Balkan community.

Three fields, one stance

One family trait that never changed: standing up for whoever is in the right.

  1. 01 · Trade

    Cemal Tercan

    the tradesperson's due

    Founder of the tradespeople's organisation and president of TESK. He became the voice of those who produce.

  2. 02 · Industry

    TERBAY

    the maker's labour

    TERBAY Makina, a family inheritance: a culture of production and hard work that grew in the second generation.

  3. 03 · Tourism

    Bülent Tercan

    tourism's due

    The same stance in a new field: so that İzmir's tourism becomes visible and reaches the place it deserves.

Across three different fields, the Tercan name came to mean the same thing: standing beside whoever is in the right.

A childhood in Karşıyaka

One childhood, two tables

Dursun Bülent Tercan was born in Karşıyaka in 1966. He completed primary, secondary and high school in İzmir and never left the city. That is exactly what he means by being “an İzmirli in substance, not in name”: one single city where he was born, studied and grew up.

His father was the head of İzmir's tradesmen's organisation and a member of parliament, so his childhood was spent in the meeting halls of trade chambers and at party congresses — an unusual classroom for a child, but one that taught him early what public life and defending a cause mean.

He chose engineering for his higher education: mechanical engineering at Dokuz Eylül University. He left after two years, choosing the hotel front desk over the ledger. In 1989 he broke ground on his first hotel in Çeşme.

Engineering taught him to think in numbers; the trade chambers taught him to stand in the field.

II — Çeşme

Inside tourism

Building a hotel is one thing; understanding an industry is another.

A narrow cobbled street between vine-covered white houses in Alaçatı
Alaçatı, Çeşme Peninsula · Photo: naeim jafari / Unsplash

I say this as someone with thirty years in tourism.

Three signatures

Three hotels in Çeşme

A road that began with a small two-star hotel in Çeşme became, over thirty years, three addresses and an identity within the industry.

  1. Çeşme · 1989 to 1992

    Albano Otel

    Where the journey began. Construction started in 1989, and the 36-room hotel in two blocks opened in 1992.

  2. Boyalık · Çeşme

    White Boutique Hotel

    A 16-room boutique hotel, also known over the years as “Gurverte Butik Hotel”. It represents the quiet, small-scale hospitality of the Boyalık shore.

  3. Dalyanköy Marina · Çeşme

    Sisus Hotel

    Construction began in 2000, with advice from one of the founders of Club Med. A marina hotel of roughly 5,000 m² known as the “love hotel”, it entered international catalogues while still under construction. In 2012 it ranked sixth in TripAdvisor's list of Turkey's 25 best luxury hotels.

Terbay Turizm A.Ş., founded with his cousins in 1997, opened the way to a second hotel. A hotelier on one side and an industrialist on the other: he also sits on the board of the Terbay Group of Companies, founded by his father Cemal Tercan and his uncle Kemal Baysak.

Four men in suits at the TERBAY Makina Endüstri ve Ticaret A.Ş. trade-fair stand; third from left, Dursun Bülent Tercan
Personal archive · At the TERBAY Makina trade-fair stand

III — Voice of the industry

Associations and leadership

At the institutional table of İzmir tourism since 2006: from spokesman of a promotion group to its president, from an association's board to an international club.

The Gulf of İzmir seen over red rooftops, with the city stretching along a palm-lined shore road and mountains beyond
Gulf of İzmir · Photo: Parastoo Maleki / Unsplash

A single voice does not echo on its own; an institution carries a city.

At the institutional table

A twenty-year line

At the same table since 2006, with greater responsibility at every step.

A twenty-year line
DateRecordDetail
2006Destination İzmirFounding spokesman; from 2006 promoted İzmir at the Montreux, Berlin and London trade fairs. Known today as Destination İzmir Group.
2012ETİKVice president; the industry's voice during the EXPO 2020 bid and on the city's shortage of hotel beds.
TodayFour institutionsPresident of Destination İzmir Group, vice president of ETİK, Skål İzmir board member, member of the İZTO High Advisory Council. In 2024, the 83rd Skål World Congress in İzmir.
In an airport departures hall, a delegation of twelve reach out and join hands in the middle
Personal archive · A delegation at an airport terminal

Works and initiatives

From talking to doing

A world congress and a vision report — words given concrete form.

The façade of the Library of Celsus at Ephesus, with carved stone fragments in the foreground
Ephesus, Library of Celsus · Photo: Luis Barreto D / Unsplash

Values and principles

Not you or me — İzmir

Our motto is not you or me; it is İzmir, İzmir tourism, love for İzmir.

Bülent Tercan

  • Candour

    Rather than go to a beach club in Çeşme, I would sooner spend that money on a few days in the Greek islands, ferry ticket included.

    He never shied away from telling even his own industry the truth.

  • Hard work

    Thirty years running hotels, growing an association, bringing a world congress to İzmir — none of it overnight.

  • Continuity

    What his father did for tradespeople and craftsmen, he does for tourism.

At a glance

Roles and public record

Current institutional roles and the public political record, stated plainly.

Current roles

Destination İzmir Group
President
ETİK — Aegean Touristic Enterprises and Accommodations Association
Vice president
Skål International İzmir Club
Board member
İzmir Chamber of Commerce
High advisory council member
Terbay Group of Companies
Board member

Political record

2014
Member of the İzmir Metropolitan Municipal Council for Çeşme, AK Party.
2015
First nomination bid: AK Party parliamentary candidacy, İzmir 1st District.
2019
Member of the Çeşme Municipal Council, AK Party.
2023
Second nomination bid: AK Party parliamentary candidacy in İzmir for the 28th parliamentary term.

Neither nomination bid reached the final candidate list.

Read the vision