Sukru Aslanyurek
Sukru was educated in English from 11 years of age, at Darussafaka Lisesi and Bosphorus University in Ä°stanbul. His MSc in Tourism degree was completed at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. PhD in Sociology (Leisure studies) was received at Ä°stanbul University (1983) with academic research at Birmingham University.
Sukru built a career starting off as a tour guide for the whole of Turkey at the age of 18. Touching and learning the rich historic and geographic heritage with 15000 years of cultural background opened the gates for the tourism business. The most crucial step forward was his duty to plan and set up the Tourism and Hotel management Department at Bosphorus University, following the route defined by his teachers (1977). Roles in hotel and time share development ventures and management of ground services for British Airways led to the great step forward: business development leadership at Ataköy Tourism Center (1987) including Galleria Shopping Mall, Printemps Department Store, Ataköy Marina and Famecity Game Centre. Galleria was also the first location for his own fast-food chain of Turkish cuisine, Managing the development of Capitol Shopping Mall in Ä°stanbul (1993) from ground zero led to Retail Vision.
Having attended numerous professional events in the mall business during Galleria and Capitol projects, Sukru decided to lead and and build two dreams in 1994: RETAIL VISION, the first retail and mall development business ally in Turkey for new ventures, and the Turkish Council of Shopping Centers (AMD), as the local member of ICSC. He formulated the board of founders, set up professional traing programs and organized annual conferences. AMD grew fast to include retail brands (local and international) as members. Following the economic turmoil of 2001, retail brands formulated new associations, leading to the picture today (more than 10 bodies).
RETAIL VISION took professional roles in retail property and band development in 30 provinces of Turkey, covering 80% of the national retail market. Malls developed from ground zero offere more than 400,000 sq. m. GLA.
Since 2016, Sukru has concentrated on teaching and conferences at universities and assisting retail associations in organisation issues and manpower. Main area of commercial interest and action is in predictive analytics, customer experience management and executive training. Omnichannel retail is the new flag.