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- info@stbir.org
Although not yet as much as the Olympics, Turkey has also hosted many international sports events and organizations to date. With an 85 percent share, Antalya leads sports tourism in Turkey with its geographical, climate and experience advantages in the tourism sector. The Sports Tourism Association is working to ensure that the city, which has made progress with international organizations it has organized in the fields of golf, cycling, tennis and marathon, will organize larger international organizations in different branches of sports and expand its tourism activities to 12 months.
The Sports Tourism Association is preparing to implement new projects in Antalya, targeting football, one of the areas where competition is intense in sports tourism. Association President Nida Kiraz stated that the interest of good and quality teams in Antalya started to decrease after the pandemic, and explained this with their competitors taking the lead in organizing international tournaments. Therefore, they rolled up their sleeves to organize an International Antalya Football Tournament with 8 teams from 8 different countries in the winter this year, arguing that Antalyaspor Stadium has the capacity to host a championship.
Kiraz also stated that they want to add big and famous ones to the sports institutions and clubs that are currently camping in Antalya. Kiraz stated that 1500 camps are held in Antalya annually, and that 2 friendly matches are held during each camp period, which corresponds to 3 thousand matches, but they encounter limitations in terms of providing referees for these matches, that they are negotiating with the Football Federation and that they are waiting for their support. Kiraz stated that there are enough football training fields in Antalya, and drew attention to the fact that the problem is not in the number of fields, but in the standards of the fields, and said, “We aim to have the fields certified by FIFA.”
Kiraz stated that the Sports Tourism Association has formed a committee for each branch of sports, and said, “We aim to act as a bridge for expansion and improvement projects related to each branch.” Kiraz stated that they are working in contact with both the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and that they have prepared a website regarding sports facilities in Turkey, and that this website will be effective in attracting foreign sports organizations that want to use sports facilities in Turkey to Turkey.
