About UĞUR ÇELİKKOL
Born in 1973,Bursa,Uğur Çelikkol has acquired a taste for sightseeing and photography which he inherited from his father and made it part of his life.By constantly exploring new destinations,he has improved himself to a great extent with regard to sightseeing and culture tours.
Rafet Çelikkol,a skier and one of the first voluntary tourism professionals in Bursa,set up Karagöz Antique in 1960-a souvenir shop- where Uğur Çelikkol learnt the basics of tourism and its culture. Currently, he is working with his father at Karagöz Antika in Eski Aynalı Çarşı, dealing in antiques such as handcrafts,Karagöz figurines,embroideries,and other artefacts. After having gratuated from Foreign Languages Department,Uludag University,he attended a certificate programme in organizing tours and in tourism english by Bosphorus University. He has been a registered tour guide by Ministery of Culture and Tourism since 1992 and with the advantage of being in the tourism for years, he has been able to create an archive of photography intended for both professionals and amateurs with different aims.Some of the photos taken by Çelikkol are those covering cultural aspects of our traditional shadow play,Karagöz, Bursa and its environs,Istanbul,both sides of the Aegean Sea.He has been a member of Bufsad-Bursa Photography Society since 1998.
He is also one of the family members who have done their best to revive the traditional shadow play, Karagöz art,in which he is an expert.He is a member of Unima Turkey (International Puppetry and Shadow Play Union) and he is the general secratary of Unima Bursa,which is the second branch in Turkey.He is the only person from Unima Bursa who paid a visit to Unima headquarters located in Charleville Mezieres,France. He himself and his familiy have contributed a lot to Bursa Karagöz Theatre by attending the festivals both at home and abroad,thus having had the opportunity to promote our traditional shadow puppet theatre, Karagöz.His father,Şinasi Çelikkol,has made great efforts to draw the public’s attention to Karagöz House founded by R.Şinasi ÇELİKKOL just across from the Karagöz Monumental Grave on the Çekirge Street.
Çelikkol who combines his photography passion with his profession and social surroundings is one of the senior members of the Bufsad. Celikkol worked as a newsreader at Olay TV between 01 February 2005 and 30 June 2007.
He attended many group exhibitions , held his own exhibitions, gave many photos to travel journals and documentarily books and brochures and he also gave conferences accompanied by slights at various festivals at home and abroad . You can find most of his articles published in various magazines and newspapers about the culture in Bursa on the internet . Celikkol wrote articles accompanied by the photographs he took for the Daily Bursa Hakimiyet on its Sunday editions between November 2008 and May 2011 .Then he gave a break and started again in October 2012 and he is still contributing to Bursa Hakimiyet. In addition, Celikkol started writing articles on sports for Hurriyet Bursa Edition in 2012 and at the end of 2012 he was transferred to Milliyet newspaper where he is still contributing articles about sports and Bursaspor.
He is organizing tours through Karagöz Travel which he himself established for both domestic tourists and tourists from abroad to destinaitons like Bursa and its surrroundings , and the places from Greece to Syria. Internet address: www.karagoztravel.com Çelikkol has pursued the developments in the tourism of Bursa and carried out the task of general secretariat of Türsab (South Marmara Regional Executive Board) successfully between January 2008 and July 2008.
What He Has Done for Guiding Profession
Since 2005, Çelikkol had been the agent for IRO in Bursa (Istanbul Chamber of Tour Guides) and was an active member of the Executive Board of Tureb (Union of Turkish Guides).He played the key role in organizing compulsory in-service training on behalf of IRO and seminars related to other general topics for guides in Bursa . . ( 2008-2009-2010-2011-2012 :years that he helped to organize the seminars)
One of the founder members of Gümred (South Marmara Professional Tourist Guides Association) which came into being in August,2008, Ugur Çelikkol became the first president of the union and tried to do his best to bring all the guides together.He managed to set up an internet web page not witnessed at any other associations.
What is more,he was able to find an office for the union in the city centre somewhere between Great Mosque and Koza Han where the tourism’s heart beats In this way, he contributed to the promotion of the union.At the second general meetingh held onJanuary 27,2011, Çelikkol was elected as the president for another four year term by a large mojority of votes.However,at the third general meeting held in January,2013 , he wanted to pass the task to one of his friends,but upon the insistence of his colleagues,he did accept to stay on the board as the vice president
Uğur Çelikkol was elected as one of the delegates to the Board at the general meeting of IRO held in September,2012,Istanbul.
A team consisting of Tureb,Iro,Aro,Izro presidents together with other unions’ representatives led by Şerif Yenen,the president of IRO and Tureb,met with the minister of Culture and Tourism, the politicians and the other people responsible many times,carried out some studies and made painstaking efforts to make the related act to be passed at the parliament.As a result, “Guiding Profession Act“ ,which was was passed at a special session in the parliament in June,12012 ,was welcomed by all the guides across Turkey.Uğur Çelikkol was one of those who contributed to the Guiding Profession Act to be carried out.
Ugur Çelikkol has been a member of IRO since 2001…
Area of Expertise
Çelikkol is specialized in the following areas: walking tours in Bursa and İstanbul, the islands of İstanbul (Kınalı, Burgaz, Heybeli, Buyukada) the islands of Marmara (Marmara, Paşalimanı, Avşa, Ekinlik) the islands of Aegean (Bozcaada, Gökceada, Midilli-Lesvos, Sakız-Chios, Samos-Sisam, Kos, Rodos-Rhodes) ceramics in İznik and Kütahya; Early Ottoman Architecture buildings in Bursa-Edirne-İstanbul and environs, Turkmen yoruk villages around Bursa, handcrafts,organized art tours and workshops, Thracian and Aegean region and the cultures belonging to them,and he is also an expert at tours to mainland Greece and the islands. In addition, he has improved himself a lot regarding Orthodox culture and living styles of Bursa , İstanbul and Marmara region by his own efforts and by attending seminars given by IRO and he is an expert at Turkish Greek population exchanges.
Ugur Celikkol started introducing the inhabitants of Bursa to village tours in 1998-1999 by giving the message “ We should know the city we live in by touring the town and its surroundings “ and in time, he expanded the scope of daily tours by including one night accomodation tours nearby Bursa within reach. He has brought many dwellers in Bursa to meet the natural beauties and the unfamiliar cultures of our country.
