Leyla Öner Guncavdi was born in Bruxelles in 1973.
She completed her undergraduate degree at the Bosphorus University in Istanbul in 1994 with a double major degree on International Relations & Public Administration as well as Psychology.
In 1996, Leyla started her diplomatic career in the Ministry of Foreign Relations of The Republic of Turkey. She was assigned to the Turkish Embassy in Mexico from 1998 until 2001 as the Turkish Consul.
She has completed her graduate degree at the U.D.L.A. University in Mexico on “International Corporations and International Relations” and gained a Master’s Degree with honors.
In 2001, she started working at Tura Turizm.  She has been working actively and specifically in cruise department at Tura Turizm. Since 2021 she has act as Board Member and Chief Executive Officer.
She has been invited to several conferences and summits as speaker such as;

FCCA Cruise Conference & Trade Show - Trinidad & Tobago – 2008
SEATRADE-MED, MARSEILLE'12 Changing Dynamics of Itinerary Planning in the Med
SEATRADE-MED, BARCELONA'14 Innovations'Shorex-CLIA Port & Destination Summit
SEATRADE-EUROPE, HAMBURG'15 Challenge Accepted-CLIA Port & Destination Summit
SEATRADE-MED, TENERIFE'16 Tura 50 Year & Security-CLIA Port & Destination Summit
SEATRADE- MED, Malaga’22 The Great Comeback
She has a good command of English, French and Spanish. Leyla Öner GUNCAVDI is married and has a son. She lives in Istanbul.