Antalya, which spends the winter period active with health, congress and sports tourism and has hosted more than 1 million 750 thousand guests since the beginning of the year, is expected to break a record in the number of tourists this year.
Antalya, where the highest number of visitors of all time was reached last year with more than 16 million people, is expecting a new record this year. In the city, which has a busier winter period, known as the “dead season”, compared to last year, reservations for the summer have increased.
Kaan Kavaloglu, President of the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers and Operators Association, told the AA correspondent that they started this year with great hope as a sector.
Stating that the tourism figures are satisfactory, Kavaloglusaid, “The number of tourists coming to Antalya this year exceeded 1 million 750 thousand. This corresponds to a 20% increase compared to last year. We can say that it is a positive start.”
Stating that, as a sector, they want the guests coming to Turkiye and Antalya to return to their countries happy and satisfied, Kavaloglu emphasized that the increasing number of tourists every year proves this.
Underlining that Turkiye and Antalya have significant potential in world tourism, Kavaloglu noted that sector stakeholders continue their work with this awareness.
Explaining that they have taken important steps especially towards diversifying tourism, Kavaloglu said:
“Antalya is at the forefront in terms of sports, golf, meetings, seminars and congress tourism. We are trying to develop these further and ensure that more hotels remain open during the winter season. We have come to a certain point in this regard by diversifying tourism, but it is not enough for us. We need to make serious efforts to develop and diversify tourism during the winter months. For the first time this year, more hotels remained open for a long time. If hotels in Antalya, from Alanya to Kas, can stay open, it means we are doing the right thing.”
Kavaloglu stated that the more hotels remain open during the winter season, the more positively employment is affected.
Emphasizing that they are more hopeful than this year as a sector, Kavaloglu said, “We expect a record this year as well. Our goal is to exceed 17 million people. In this sense, we are doing our part with all our stakeholders.”
Positive contribution from football teams
Professional Hotel Managers Association President Hakan Saatcioglu said that they hosted a significant number of teams, especially in football, during the winter season.
Pointing out that there are more than 200 regular football fields in the city, Saatcioglu stated that they hosted approximately 1400 football teams from home and abroad during the camp period.
Saatcioglu said, “We are having a better season this year compared to 2023. We hosted a significant number of football teams from Germany, Russia, Georgia, Denmark and Poland.”
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz