The leisure and hospitality industries are particularly fast moving, with heavy competition and economic pressures, compounded by customers who have more options and higher expectations than ever before. Moroğlu Arseven supports a wide range of local and multinational clients during their development, operation and financing of leisure and hospitality projects. We assist all sub-segments within these sectors, including accommodation, restaurants, bars, function centres, venues, transport providers, event planners, theme parks, cruise lines and other related entities.
Recent years have seen increased conference, religious and medical tourism to Turkey, as well as steady growth for restaurants and bars, particularly those located in shopping malls. The government has introduced a range of initiatives to support the local sectors generally, as well as to leverage these developing trends. For instance, projects focused on improving infrastructure for drinking water, sewage, wastewater treatment and discharge, as well as solid waste disposal in the coastal band between Çanakkale and Antalya. The government has also discussed offering long-term and low-interest loans for renovating tourism facilities.
Moroğlu Arseven understands industry trends in this context, along with strategic commercial and practical considerations. As a result, our support to leisure and hospitality clients extends beyond mere real estate or employment advice. We regularly advise clients about complex asset and portfolio acquisitions, financings, corporate immigration, profit repatriation, regulatory and other establishment or operational issues. The firm’s integrated approach means our leisure and hospitality clients benefit from support from topic experts in related practice areas. In particular our strong intellectual property, dispute resolution, corporate, tax, employment and commercial contract management teams.
These industries are inherently international, with clients’ daily operations and brands often spanning national borders. Fluctuations in foreign exchange rates can also have significant impacts on leisure and hospitality businesses within Turkey. These factors mean foreign investment, tax, governance and real estate matters must be carefully planned to ensure the most robust and cost-efficient legal structures.
Moroğlu Arseven’s strong intellectual property team helps leisure and hospitality clients to proactively protect their intellectual property in Turkey. The firm supports with a full range of issues, including litigation, enforcement, counselling, prosecution and transactions. Intellectual property advice is tightly integrated with other practice areas, assisting clients to establish, protect and commercialise their intellectual property assets from the earliest possible stage. For instance, all aspects of trademark issues, often involving well-known brands or major cross-border portfolios. We also have significant experience advising on endorsement, publicity and advertising projects.
Moroğlu Arseven regularly advises on processes and requirements for Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, as well as the Culture, Arts and Publications Board, among other relevant regulatory bodies. We strategically support and represent clients during all aspects of their interactions with these bodies, assisting clients to obtain a wide range of routine and exceptional approvals, exemptions or licenses. Our support includes dealing with day-to-day regulatory relations, as well as high-stakes regulatory investigations or enforcement proceedings.
The firm’s dispute resolution team provides full-scope and integrated support to leisure and hospitality clients, meaning conflict specialists are involved from the early stages of emerging issues. We support clients with all aspects and perspectives on disputes, along with regulatory investigations. Support includes representing clients in a full spectrum of forums and related processes, including civil and administrative litigation, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution methods, strategic negotiation and settlement processes, as well as injunctions and enforcement actions. For instance, representing clients involved in disputes about licenses and contractual issues.
Moroğlu Arseven assists leisure and hospitality clients with all types of major corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic partnerships, spin-offs, divestitures and group restructures. The firm has significant expertise assisting during complex, inter-jurisdictional transactions, where strategic guidance is required to deal with the legal, commercial and operational factors simultaneously. These projects often involve high values, or complicated leveraging and equity structures. We work closely with companies, shareholders, investors and financiers on both buy and sell-side, assisting through all stages of these projects.
Moroğlu Arseven places a strong focus on ensuring we consider each client’s business objectives and the dynamics of the leisure and hospitality industries, then reflect these factors into the transaction’s structure, risk allocation, or asset transfers.