2025 will be a busy year, 100,000 people will come to Alanya

At the promotional meeting for the national and international events to be held in Alanya in 2025, it was announced that the Beach Volleyball Champions League and the World Beach Handball Championship would take place in the city. Speaking at the event, Alanya Mayor Osman Tarık Özçelik stated, "The level of sponsorship support for the events we have organized so far is significantly higher compared to previous years. Thanks to this, we will be able to hold most of the events with minimal financial contribution from our municipality."

The presentation of the events planned by the Alanya Municipality for 2025 was held at Kaila Beach Hotel. The meeting was attended by Mayor Osman Tarık Özçelik, Deputy Mayors and Advisors, Municipal Council Members, political party representatives, chamber and association presidents, tourism professionals, and members of the press.

The Heart of World Volleyball Will Beat in Alanya

The presentation began with a moment of silence and the singing of the Turkish National Anthem. The event was officially opened by the Mayor's Advisor and Vice President of the Alanya Tourism Promotion Foundation (ALTAV), Abdurrahman Açıkalın. He reminded attendees that Alanya hosted its first international volleyball tournament in 1996, marking the beginning of the city's global recognition.

"In my opinion, beach volleyball is Alanya’s traditional sport. Since the 1970s, our elders have been playing beach volleyball on the shores. Recently, we signed an agreement to include Alanya in a major tournament known as the Volleyball Champions League. This prestigious tournament, held in eight countries with 18 events, is a source of pride for all of us. It was a challenging process, and we had extensive negotiations with the International Volleyball Federation. Eventually, we reached a four-year agreement, ensuring that this tournament will take place in Alanya during this period. This is a success that has never been achieved before in Turkey. The total prize pool is $150,000, and it is expected to double.

This high-stakes tournament will be held in our city from June 12 to 15. The world’s top athletes will come to Alanya, and the event will be broadcast live on international television channels for four days.

Mayor Osman Tarık Özçelik has taken significant steps to enhance sports tourism in the city, and as a result of these efforts, we have secured this tournament for Alanya. After June 1, athletes, their coaches, families, and spectators will arrive in the city, providing a major boost to Alanya's tourism industry," Açıkalın emphasized.

A WORLD-CLASS BEACH COMPLEX IS BEING BUILT

Abdurrahman Açıkalın announced that a world-class complex would be built on the beach in front of the Milli Egemenlik Stadium. "The complex we are preparing here will have a seating capacity that meets world standards. We are creating an area where beach volleyball, beach soccer, and beach handball can be played. According to international standards, four fields were required, but we are building five fields and adding six practice fields. This is in line with the standards for world championships. We have developed a project that leaves no carbon footprint. All the rooms will be in the form of mobile units that can be moved and used in other locations. We aim to develop sports tourism in Alanya throughout the year. We will make Alanya a brand in sports tourism. Additionally, from July 3 to 13, we will host a beach handball tournament with 2,000 athletes participating," he said, outlining the events to be held in 2025.

MAYOR ÖZÇELİK: WE WILL TAKE ALANYA'S POTENTIAL TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Alanya Mayor Osman Tarık Özçelik began his speech by thanking Abdurrahman Açıkalın and his team for their excellent preparations: "He said he thanks us for bringing everyone together, but I respond by saying that we didn't gather alone, we did it together." Mayor Özçelik continued: "We have gathered to introduce the events and festivals that will take place in Alanya in 2025. In about a month and a half, I will complete my first year as mayor. We continue working with great enthusiasm and dedication for our Alanya. I hope our pace will continue to increase. As I mentioned during the election campaign, we will not destroy what exists but will continue to raise the bar and add to it. Alanya is a city that attracts attention not only from our country but also from the world due to its historical heritage, natural beauties, agriculture, and tourism. With this potential in mind, we have meticulously prepared the 2025 event calendar, aiming to offer a wide range of events."

MAYOR ÖZÇELİK: TOGETHER WE WILL SUCCEED

Emphasizing that the events are not just for entertainment but will also make significant contributions to the city's economy, Mayor Özçelik stated, "These events will contribute not only to our citizens but to everyone — from shopkeepers in the market to the ladies growing tomatoes and peppers in the villages. We aim to attract more guests through festivals and sports events at both the national and international levels. This will stimulate our local businesses — from hotels and restaurants to cafes and shops. We are confident that these events will also contribute to increasing flights to Gazipaşa-Alanya Airport and extending the tourist season. Thus, Alanya will continue to be an attractive city not only in the summer but throughout the year. I always say that nothing can be achieved without hard work, and I believe that previous mayors also worked hard. We have reached this stage, but our difference will be in planning. If you plan and have data, you will succeed in whatever you do. This is the path we have started on. The main vision of our events is to increase the city's appeal and bring people from different cultures together. At the same time, we want to provide more opportunities for our people to engage in social life, art, sports, and culture. In this process, your support, dear media, is always invaluable. We appreciate your contributions in announcing and promoting our events. Finally, I invite all citizens to participate in our events throughout the year. Together, we will advance Alanya and make it a stronger brand, and we will succeed."

MAYOR ÖZÇELİK: WE ARE ABOUT TO FINALIZE AN AGREEMENT TO BRING 100,000 PEOPLE TO ALANYA

Emphasizing the goal of extending tourism in Alanya throughout the year, Mayor Osman Tarık Özçelik said, "The elections were held on March 31, and since that day, I have always said this: Alanya's dynamics are very strong, and when we come together as Alanyans, there is nothing we cannot achieve. Issues like money, debt, and others can be dealt with. First and foremost, we must make Alanya a brand. People in Europe should not be thinking at the last minute, 'Where should we go?' and then say, 'Oh, there are vacancies in Alanya, let's go there.' To improve the quality of our tourism, people should be able to say, 'This year, we are going to Alanya.' Once we achieve that, it will mean we have taken a step towards becoming a brand. At a trade fair in the UK, we were told, 'If a tourist is coming to Alanya, they will walk there if necessary, but you must make people say, 'We are going to Alanya.' We made this our motto. We have tried to participate in all fairs and had meetings with no free time, telling people about Alanya, about the new perspective on the city. Tour operators and agencies are pleased with this. At the fairs, they told me, 'For the first time, a manager of this level is visiting us.' We recently visited Finland and had meetings there as well. We want to change the vision of our tourism in this way: We have sea, sand, sun, history, but from November to March, we have a huge gap. We need to revive this period. To diversify tourism, we decided to focus on sports tourism and have already started working in this area. We met with one of the leading sports tourism groups in Poland. Starting from 2026, they will bring the sports events they previously organized in the Canary Islands to Alanya. As a result of this agreement, every year 100,000 people, including athletes and their companions, will come to Alanya for sports tourism. Our negotiations are ongoing, and we will finalize the agreement."

MAYOR ÖZÇELİK: LET'S ADD VALUE TO ALANYA TOGETHER

Mayor Özçelik continued: "So far, sponsor support for our events has been much higher compared to the past. We will be able to organize most of the events with sponsors without spending much from the municipality's budget. For the first time, we shared our event calendar with tour operators. All our events are receiving much more attention and participation compared to previous years. This makes us happy. Let's work together for Alanya, show its beauty. Let's add value to our city together. We can achieve this, and when we do, our children will live with a high quality of life, like in any European country. There is no 'you' and 'me,' there is 'us.'" After answering questions from the participants, the program concluded.