Context and intent
Antalya is one of the few cities in the world that gets reduced to a sun-sand-sea formula. That cliché has been the backbone of tourism in the city for decades, but it sits next to an equally compelling story: Lycian trails, ancient cities, covered bazaars, mountain villages, regional cuisine. Rota Antalya was designed to tell that other story.
The project came out of a partnership between ATSO (the Antalya Chamber of Commerce) and BAKA (the Western Mediterranean Development Agency). We delivered the product as a sub-contractor on the ATSO side, with full responsibility for product, content, photography, software and launch. The aim wasn't only to give visiting tourists something useful — it was to give Antalya residents a reason to rediscover their own city.
Past sun-sand-sea
Surface Antalya's lesser-known historical, natural and cultural destinations to tourists and locals in the same product.
Institutional backing
Born from an ATSO + BAKA partnership; we delivered as the ATSO-side sub-contractor, owning product, content, photography, software and launch.
Audience
International tourists exploring Antalya for the first time, and local residents looking at their own city with fresh eyes.
Content architecture — 250+ destinations
A travel guide is only as good as its content. We treated each of the 250+ destinations not as a 'list item' but as a self-contained piece of writing worth reading on its own. Content production didn't run on a single channel — it ran through three sources in parallel, with a fourth editorial pass on top.
Library research
Historical and cultural background pulled from local and international sources — not just the parts that get repeated on Wikipedia.
Online sources
Existing online content was reviewed for gaps and contradictions, which became briefing notes for the field team.
Fieldwork
Every single destination was physically visited. A guide that hasn't been on the ground can't honestly tell you what you'll find when you get there.
Editorial pass
Each destination text went through a final editorial pass for historical accuracy and readability — accuracy alone wasn't enough, the writing had to keep the user reading.
The photo library — partnering with Önder Koca
Words alone don't sell a destination — you have to catch the user with the image first. You don't make an Antalya guide out of stock photos; it has to be told through someone who actually sees the city. So we partnered with Önder Koca, one of Antalya's leading landscape photographers, to build an original photo library covering every destination in the app.
Original photography
Every destination shot specifically for the app — not a single stock image anywhere in the product.
Seasonal range
Shoots were spread across the calendar to capture how the same place looks in different seasons — Antalya isn't a single image.
Visual storytelling
Each image was selected to spark the urge to go before the user even read the destination's name. The app had to feel like a place that pulls you out the door.
Multi-language content and voice-over
Antalya's incoming visitor profile is heavily Turkish, English, Russian and German, so we designed for four languages from day one. Every destination's text was written in all four languages and recorded by professional voice actors, so the user could either read or listen to each piece of content.
Four languages
TR / EN / RU / DE — produced in parallel from day one, not bolted on as a translation pass after launch.
Professional voice-over
Every destination is both readable and listenable in all four languages, recorded in studio.
Accessibility
Audio isn't only convenience — it's what makes the product usable while walking, driving or for users with vision difficulties.
Offline use
Mobile data isn't reliable in historical or inland areas, so the app was designed to work offline once a route is downloaded.
Product features — routes and gamification
A travel guide that's only a 'list' isn't enough — we wanted users to build an active relationship with the product, to structure their own discovery instead of scrolling. So we designed it as a place to play in: turn-by-turn navigation, a check-in mechanic and a light gamification layer on top.
Personal routes
Pick from 250+ destinations, build your own day-route, hand it off to Google Maps for actual navigation.
Check-ins and points
Each visit can be marked from the app and turns into points; the collection mechanic rewards long-term use, not just one trip.
Bookmarks and sharing
Users can save destinations they liked and share them out to social — a low-friction way for the app to grow on its own.
Reviews and ratings
Other users' experiences add a second layer of truth on top of the editorial content — what a place is actually like, not just what we wrote about it.
Technical foundation
On the development side we picked Flutter. At the time it was just stabilising; the cross-platform model that fed iOS and Android from a single codebase was a serious gain on both timeline and cost. On the backend we went with Node.js and MongoDB; for maps and routing, we integrated with Google Maps.
Flutter
One codebase, two app stores — development time roughly halved versus building native iOS and Android.
Backend
Node.js + MongoDB, picked for the flexibility of a document-shaped data model — every destination had its own meta fields.
Google Maps integration
Turn-by-turn directions, in-app navigation and route visualisation on the map.
Offline cache
Core experience optimised to keep working without a connection once the user has loaded a route.
Marketing site
rotaantalya.com — a static landing that supported app downloads and tracked conversion at launch.
The product management lens
What this project taught me — more than any other in this period of my career — is that product management on the ground means coordinating across disciplines that don't usually live in the same room. Tourism domain experts, content writers, a photographer, a voice-over studio, a translation team, the engineering team and ATSO's official stakeholder requirements all had to land on the same release.
Cross-disciplinary coordination
Software, content, photography, voice-over and translation all running in parallel — the product manager's real job here was keeping the timelines in sync without forcing one stream to wait on another.
Field validation
Every destination had to be verified on the ground. A desk-built guide doesn't survive contact with a tourist standing in front of the place — and we wanted a product that earned its space in the user's pocket.
Scope discipline
There was constant pull to add 'just a few more destinations'. Holding the line at 250 — and protecting quality over quantity — was a deliberate scope decision.
Life after launch
The app is still live in both stores years after launch. That's possible because the content structure was designed for non-developer additions from day one — a new destination doesn't need an engineer.
Outcome
Rota Antalya has been live on iOS and Android since launch, with a 4.5-star rating on the Play Store. It's not a SaaS with hockey-stick numbers — but doing a small part to change the way a city looks at itself is a return that's hard to put on a chart.
On a personal level, this is where I learned that product management doesn't only live next to engineering. It lives next to fieldwork, content, photography and translation just as much. And that working on something for a city you love, on a topic you love, makes a real difference to the work itself.
Destinations
250+ curated points across Antalya, each with original text, photography and audio narration.
Languages
Turkish, English, Russian and German — text and professional voice-over throughout.
Reach
iOS + Android, still live; 4.5★ on the Play Store.
Funding
Western Mediterranean Development Agency (BAKA), in partnership with ATSO.