Congress tourism organization of congress and a research for future expectations, potantial and problems of congress tourism of Antalya region

SUMMARY Because of the reasons of the increase in the number of national and international institutions in the globalizing world, and in information exchange requirements in specialising fields in parallel with scientific and technological development, a rapid increase in the number of meeting was realised. Arising from meeting requirement, travelling, accommodation and other needs of people resulted in a new kind of tourism. This is called "Congress Tourism". Since the participants have high income and culture levels, the effects of congress tourism are much more than that of general tourism. In addition to this, arranging congress in the periods that the tourism is not intensive, enables tourism extend to whole year giving up its seasonal characteristic. 25% of world tourism incomes consist of congress tourism. This situation puts forward the economical dimension of congress tourism and significance in having sufficient share from congress tourism. Sustainable development in Turkish tourism and more share from the world tourism can be possible by variety in the tourism of the country. In this connection, Congress Tourism is considered as one of the tourism kinds that should be developed in our country. Organisation of congress requires detailed study, intensive preparation period and knowledge accumulation. Thus, organisations of congress should be made by professional individuals and institutions. In this study, universal dimensions of congress tourism were examined; present situation of Turkish congress tourism was evaluated. Then organisation of congress was technically examined and Antalya region was chosen as the research area; the congress tourism potential of the region; infrastructure and superstructure investments; studies of organisations related with the subject; briefly, the weak and strong sides of the sector were put forward by the help of an extensive questionnaire. The data obtained in the light of universal experiences and local expectations, were pointed out as results and proposals.