Antalya has a strategy that works: During the low season occupancy is running at 95%
08-01-2010
T&A
By Jamie Bedwell

During the off-season months of January and February many top-class professional football teams make the Antalya region their base for winter training camps. As many as 90 Turkish and foreign teams have already arrived in Antalya, with 60 more teams due to arrive by the weekend. One club and its entourage averages 100 people – this includes not just the football club staff, but also supporters and members of the press, and sometimes the club’s own TV channel crew. These football teams are expected to boost Antalya’s economy by €30 million at a time of year when tourist numbers are usually at their lowest.

A CHOICE BASED ON QUALITY
The president of the Mediterranean Tourism and Hoteliers Association (AKTOB), Mr Sururi Çorabatır, says that the high quality of the pitches and infrastructure is the reason why so many football clubs choose to bring their teams to Antalya. Mr Çorabatır believes that the region has the necessary facilities to host all the needs of top-class teams. He states: “Right now there are nearly 90 teams here in Antalya to take part in training camps. We know from current reservations that this number will reach 150 by the weekend”.

WE WILL PROFIT FROM THE WORLD CUP
Compared to 2009, this year will see a rise of approximately 20% in the number of clubs coming to Antalya, and Çorabatır only sees this number increasing in coming years: “In June the World Cup will take place in South Africa. Because of this the teams starting their camp earlier will choose Antalya again. We are expecting a massive increase in the number of clubs coming to Antalya in 2011” he says. The AKTOB president emphasizes that clubs normally choose the regions of Belek, Lara, Kundu or Manavgat as a base for their camps and that with an increased number of flights, and visas becoming easier to obtain, the number of clubs could increase by as much as 30%. In some hotels hosting football winter training camps brings their occupancy to as high as 95%.

Fame Hotels coordinator, Erkut Kaya, says that there is not usually much interest in the Antalya region in January and February. In this period the hotels with the highest occupancy are still only 40% full, but those hotels with football pitches are up to 95% fully booked. According to Kara, teams come and occupy up to 80 rooms: “Teams make training camps for at least 10 days. Japanese and Korean teams stay for at least 21 days with room rates starting from €60. Hotels with football pitches really see a substantial rise in occupancy” he adds.

Below are some of the teams taking part in training camps in 2010. As more and more teams discover this sunny corner of the Mediterranean this list is sure to grow:

Fenerbahçe
Beşiktaş
Galatasaray

FC Hamburg
Feyenoord
FC Cologne
Dinamo Tirano
Dinamo Bucharest
S.Hiroshima
Rubin Kazan
Werder Bremen
Zenit St Petersburg
Источник