By combining authentic storytelling, data-led insights, and a focus on lasting value, Istanbul Workshops has transformed how travelers experience the city’s heritage.
Before launching Istanbul Workshops, founders Ali Arif Soydas and Fatih Kaynar hosted international travelers who were couch surfing in Istanbul, showing them the hidden, authentic side of the city. They had a knack for it, but were frustrated by the city’s transactional tourism industry.
Because traditional walking tours in Turkey require expensive licensing, the duo pivoted to an untapped market: hands-on cultural workshops. They started with a single Turkish coffee masterclass. Now, their “experience house” has a team of 25 and 12 different workshops. They welcome many guests from across Europe and the US — including thousands from GetYourGuide alone.
Their partnership with GetYourGuide has been central to that growth, helping them achieve 30% year-over-year revenue growth in the year to date through data-driven insights and platform visibility. Even as they scale, Ali and Fatih maintain their original mentality — treating every visitor like a personal houseguest.
How did Istanbul Workshops go from hosting couch surfers to running a workshop business?
Ali: We met 15 years ago in Croatia during an EU youth exchange. We both traveled a lot and had many international friends.
Then we started hosting people in Istanbul through CouchSurfing, taking them around the city and showing them hidden spots, giving them a real local experience. We knew there was a business idea there, but you cannot do walking tours here without a tourism license, which requires a specific bachelor’s degree. We had to find a way to do tourism without doing it at the same time, and it turned out to be workshops. We started with the Turkish coffee workshop, because if you are a foreigner, this is probably the first thing you think of as local.
Why did Istanbul Workshops move away from traditional tourism, and what did you do instead?
Ali: We had a motto: we want to save tourism from the Grand Bazaar mentality. People don’t want to just go and buy — or be forced to buy — something from stores. We wanted to provide valuable experiences for people, whether that’s brewing a great cup of Turkish coffee or making a mosaic lamp to take home. One guest from Germany just told us she still uses the lamp she made last year every night in her bedroom. We were like, " Wow, it worked. We touched her life.” It makes her remember Istanbul, which is our main goal.
How do you keep experiences feeling personal as your business grows?
Fatih: We don’t use the word customer. Everyone is our guest. In Türkiye, there’s a saying among small business owners: “What I eat, I serve.” To give an example, I had to bring candy to meet my girlfriend’s family two weeks ago, and I brought the same Turkish delight we serve in our workshop. The same brand, same quality. I trust it.
Sometimes people ask where to find the best yogurt or where to have dinner, and I’ll always find the best answer, somewhere I would want to go myself. If I have time, we’ll go together. We want them to feel welcomed and know they can trust us for every need.
It’s not just about the company; it’s our lifestyle, so it’s not something we can lose.
How has GetYourGuide helped your business grow?
Ali: When we started doing workshops in Istanbul, there was no one else doing it, so we didn’t have any example in front of us. Even on GetYourGuide, when we applied, there was no workshop in Istanbul. GetYourGuide showed us the potential.
Before GetYourGuide, we were selling and had a business; after, we saw the boom effect. We thought we had something special, but were not sure. Now, it was confirmed by a global company. So we believed more and trusted ourselves to put more effort, more time, more money into it.
What tools and data from GetYourGuide do you rely on?
Ali: GetYourGuide reviews and demographics are a goldmine for us. Then we combine that with our own tracking and research.
We have regular meetings with GetYourGuide where we’re checking our data: what’s working, what’s not, which time slots might be better. We might have guests from India, Canada, Chile, and China at the same table, and they can have very different expectations.
The age brackets help us adjust the direction in advance, too. We try to find that sweet spot where everyone is happy, but it isn’t always possible. One three-star review said: “I was really happy, the workshop was great, but I was upset we didn’t have a contest to see which lamp was the best at the end, otherwise I’d give five.”
How has having access to real-time data changed the way you make decisions?
Ali: Now, as a medium-sized company, we have access to and are using technology and data like big companies, maybe giant companies. This is how the standard went up, because we have the know-how, the research, and tracking that GetYourGuide offers on the dashboard.
How do you run a smooth operation when most guests book just 24 hours in advance?
Ali: We expect it now, as Istanbul is a transportation city. People don’t stay here for two weeks. Mostly our guests are here for 48 or 72 hours. We take four hours from their trip, so we are under some pressure to make it one of the highlights.
That’s what drives us — letting people have a really good experience in Istanbul. We can use the data we have to predict the needs of that workshop, and we are always learning. We keep notes too.
What kind of notes do you keep on guests, and how do you use them?
Ali: It’s not like it sounds, I promise! We have a group chat for questions, and the description is: “Please keep notes of interesting ideas and questions you got today for which you didn’t have an answer.” We are very aware that we need to be nimble and responsive, and the next time we will have an answer.
How do you decide what new workshops to create, and how do you test them?
Ali: We check worldwide, every city, to see what people enjoy doing there. We try to localize them, not duplicate or replicate, and build more of the things people are looking for.
Ebru is a 600-year-old Turkish marbling art form, and I realized that’s a workshop we can do easily but still authentically, because there are masters here. But we did it a little differently — marbling on tote bags, not paper, to give guests something they can use and remember their experience with every day.
We try each workshop first locally, not on GetYourGuide, on other platforms, with local people, friends, and direct customers. We’ll refine it until we know it is good enough to offer to an international audience, too.
What's your advice for experience creators thinking about joining GetYourGuide?
Fatih: Stand out with positive customer feedback. If you are exceptional and provide strong service, GetYourGuide will trust you. They take care of reliable suppliers.
In the past, there was a lot of anxiety on our side as other tour operators copied whatever we created. Now we understand: as long as you create the right product and make sure you provide the best for customers, you don’t have to worry about anything else.
What makes you the most proud about what you do?
Fatih: There are lots of different mosaic lamp places, perfume classes, and Turkish coffee–making workshops today. Four years ago, there was nothing. But we don’t focus on the competition.
We had a chance to bring a new message and let people experience more of the good sides of Turkish culture. That makes us proud.
Key takeaways
• Create lasting value. Ali and Fatih focus on sending guests home with a tangible, daily reminder of Istanbul, like a mosaic lamp, coffee-making know-how, or perfume. Their approach moves away from traditional souvenirs and the “Grand Bazaar mentality.”
• Use demographic data to tailor experiences. Knowing that guests often book just one day in advance, Istanbul Workshops relies on GetYourGuide’s demographic data to identify the cultural “sweet spot” when hosting diverse groups at the same table.
• Maintain the host mentality. Despite growing to a team of 25 and selling thousands of tickets each year, the founders still treat every customer like a personal guest.
• Lead the market with innovation. By being the first in Istanbul to bring structured cultural workshops to GetYourGuide, Ali and Fatih set a new standard in the city. Their Turkish lamp and perfume-making experiences remain their top-selling tours, despite copycats.
• Leverage regular collaboration. Istanbul Workshops holds regular data-review meetings with their GetYourGuide contacts to identify what’s working, optimize time slots, and track performance. This proactive partnership has given confidence to expand and aided 30% year-over-year growth.
