Bodrum Arena to transform ‘Turkish Riviera’

Work will begin later this year on a new entertainment and sports arena in Turkish tourist hotspot Bodrum.

The Bodrum Arena project will begin in around five months with more than €70 million public-private investment, Akhmet Palankoev, head of the Russian-Turkish Business Council, tells Anadolu Agency, adding that the arena will feature “Russian technology”.

Work is expected to take around 15 months. When open, the arena, located the heart of the ‘Turkish Riviera’ on the Aegean Sea, will host concerts by “world stars”, as well as ice-hockey and skating events, and employ 300 people.

Tourist hot spot Bodrum on the “Turkish Riviera” is set to become home to a massive complex that will be built with the help of Russian technology, the head of the Russian-Turkish Business Council said Sunday.

It is hoped the arena will be used year-round and reduce Bodrum’s reliance on seasonal tourism

The arena is expected to have a capacity of 20,000, according to SportInvest Bodrum, which is leading the project, and will be built on a 30,000m² site that also includes shops, a restaurant, a hotel, an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a mosque. “We also want to open a school where young people interested in ice hockey, ice skating and other ice sports can receive education,” says Palankoev.

It is hoped the arena will be used year-round and reduce Bodrum’s reliance on seasonal tourism.

If the capacity ends up being 20,000, it will be the one of the largest indoor arenas in Turkey, exceeded only by the 16,000-seat Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, which has a capacity of up to 22,500 for concerts.

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