Antalya has been one of the most exciting destinations for football training camps for many years. High-quality hotels, suitable sports infrastructure, short distances within the resorts and many experienced partners make the region particularly interesting for teams looking to prepare their season under professional conditions.
To ensure that our offers in Turkey continue to meet the exact requirements of our customers in the future, Daniel Kobl and Ilhan Celikli represented SOCCATOURS at Sports & Events Türkiye 2026 in Antalya.
The international B2B event brought together hotels, agencies and providers from the sports tourism industry. For us, it was the ideal opportunity to strengthen existing contacts, meet new partners and review specific opportunities for the upcoming training camp season.
Sports & Events Türkiye 2026: a meeting point for the sports tourism industry
At Sports & Events Türkiye 2026, everything revolved around sports travel, training camps and international cooperation over the course of several days. The event format was deliberately designed for direct exchange: in pre-scheduled 1-to-1 meetings, buyers and suppliers from different markets came together.
For SOCCATOURS, this meant many conversations in a short period of time, clear topics and direct contact with hotels, agencies and local partners. In 15-minute meetings, the focus was on specific questions that are crucial for our football training camp offers in Turkey.
Which hotels are particularly suitable for football teams? What capacities are available for the next season? Where can packages be improved? Which partners meet our quality standards? And what new opportunities are available around Antalya, Belek and the surrounding training camp regions?
Focus on Antalya, Belek and Turkey
Turkey plays an important role, especially for football training camps. Many teams are looking for a destination that combines good training conditions, comfortable hotels and a strong overall package.
Antalya and the surrounding regions offer interesting conditions for exactly that. For clubs, however, it is not enough for a destination to be attractive in general. What really matters is which hotel, which sports facility and which package truly fit the team.
That is precisely why direct exchange with local partners is so valuable. At an event such as Sports & Events Türkiye, we can discuss not only prices and availability, but also processes, requirements, experience and concrete improvements for the upcoming season.
More than meetings: experiencing the destination and visiting sports facilities
In addition to the 1-to-1 meetings, the event offered an extensive supporting programme. This included visits to sports facilities, padel, golf, cycling and further activities in Antalya.
For our work on training camp offers, this part is especially important. A destination cannot be evaluated only through brochures, hotel lists or emails. You have to see how the routes work, what impression the facilities make and what possibilities a region offers beyond training.
These details play a major role, especially for football training camps in Turkey: How well are the hotel and sports facility connected? Which partners on site are reliable? Which conditions suit amateur clubs, youth teams or performance-oriented squads? And where does an overall package emerge that is convincing both from a sporting and organisational perspective?
New contacts and concrete results for the training camp season
For Dani and Ilhan, the trip to Antalya was particularly valuable because of the many international conversations. The exchange ranged from Turkish hotel and agency partners to contacts from other markets such as Great Britain, India, Switzerland, Russia and the Arab world.
“Direct exchange with hotels, agencies and partners from different markets was extremely valuable for us. We were able to establish new contacts, gather important information for the next training camp season and finalise negotiations with individual hotels,” says Daniel Kobl, Product & Sales Manager for flight arrivals at SOCCATOURS.
As a result, the trip was not just an industry meeting, but also a concrete step in preparing for the upcoming season. New contacts, up-to-date market information and completed discussions with individual hotel partners will now flow directly into the further planning of our Turkey offers.
What this means for clubs
For clubs planning a football training camp in Turkey, one thing matters above all: the offer has to work. Price, hotel, training pitches, distances, catering, service and organisation all have to fit together.
This is exactly where personal exchange on site helps. Through conversations with hotels, agencies and partners, we can assess offers more precisely, negotiate conditions more effectively and evaluate which packages make the most sense for which teams.
The result should not simply be a wider selection, but a better one: football training camp offers in Turkey that fit the team’s season planning, budget, sporting requirements and goals.
