Golf bookings up in tourism hotspot Antalya

ANTALYA- Anadolu Agency

Golf tourism bookings posted a 15 percent hike in the new season at one of the most prominent golf facilities in Europe, the Belek Tourism Center, located in the resort city of Antalya on the Turkish Riviera, according to a sector professional.

The Belek Tourism Center hosted leading people in the golfing scene, such as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and more, as well as events like the Turkish Airlines Open near the Mediterranean Sea coast.

Golfers from around the world are increasingly making bookings to play in Belek, contributing to the diversification of the region's tourism sector.

Hasan Ceylan, head of the Carya Golf Club at the Belek Tourism Center, told Anadolu Agency that the resort was named the best destination for golfing in Europe in 2013.

Ceylan stated that out of 21 golf courses in Türkiye, 16 are in Belek, and coupled with a "good price performance," demand is on the rise.

"We can host 680,000 golfers on all our 16 courses, but there needs to be more direct flights here to reach such a number, and since golfing is the only year-round tourism activity, we do not close our resorts and hotels in the winter," Ceylan said.

Öner Uygun, head of the board at Millennium Golf, also in Antalya, told Anadolu Agency that golf tourism bookings for 2025 have exceeded this year by 15 percent, adding that around 260,000 rounds have already been played in the first half of 2024.

Uygun said that around 10,000 to 12,000 golfers from the U.K. come to play on an annual basis. Underlining the need to diversify the market, he said the sector now seeks to attract more Polish golfers.

"We established an agency in Poland and we plan to bring a significant number of people from there next year," he said.

He added that 75,000 golfers have visited Belek in the first six months of the year so far, while resorts in Belek target at least 140,500 golfers and 560,000 rounds played in 2025.

Antalya is one of the hottest tourist destinations in Türkiye.

The Mediterranean city welcomed 11.7 million visitors in the first eight months of 2024, marking an 8.3 percent increase from the January-July period of last year.

Russians constituted the largest group of foreign holidaymakers in this period. According to ministry data, some 2.6 million Russian nationals visited the city, up 11 percent from a year ago.

German tourists rose 6 percent annually to 2.2 million, while tourist arrivals from the U.K. surged 20 percent to 1.1 million.