Davraz: Winter wonderland

Davraz Ski Resort, a center of winter tourism in Turkey's western Mediterranean province of Isparta, offers a mesmerizing skiing experience with a spectacular view.

The ski center, 26 kilometers (16 miles) from the city center and 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Isparta’s Suleyman Demirel Airport, enthralls visitors with its snow quality and magnificent nature.

Davraz provides a skiing experience accompanied by a scenic view of Lake Egirdir, and offers its guests separate tracks suitable for all levels, from beginners to intermediates and masters, with its twelve tracks whose total length is 23,5 kilometers in Davraz.

Hotels in and around the ski center hosted 11,385 tourists last year while 53,309 people -- most non-skiing day visitors -- benefited from the skiing facilities in Davraz.

There is a four-star hotel with a bed capacity of 280, a practice hotel with 90 beds, a 24-bed chalet, and a 55-bed auberge resort in the area as well as three mountain cafes and four football fields.

Among the facilities the resort offers to the guests are two chair lifts -- 1,211 and 936 meters long, with carrying capacities of 1,000 and 800 skiers per hour respectively -- a 624-meter-long ski lift that can carry 800 people, and two babylifts, each 300 meters long.

Already very famous for its rose and lavender tourism, Isparta’s contribution to the national economy is increasingly bigger and is now contributing to winter tourism through Davraz.

Among top five in Turkey

Isparta’s Culture and Tourism Director Osman Cot told Anadolu Ageny that Davraz was among the top five ski resorts in Turkey.

“Davraz Ski Resort is one of the best ski centers in western Mediterranean. Its distinctive quality that sets it apart from other ski centers is the high quality of its snow,” he said, particularly noting that there was no danger of avalanche or getting lost in Davraz.

He said Isparta was also a center of sport tourism in the summer months.

Yusuf Gungor, a proprietor in the center and also the president of Davraz Natural Sports Club, laid emphasis on the unique skiing experience accompanied by the beautiful scenery.

“Davraz is a more fantastic mountain than Bansko (a renowned ski resort in Bulgaria). People get fascinated when they reach the summit, where they are met by unimaginably beautiful valleys and natural ski tracks. The scenery is simply magnificent,” Gungor said.

“One-time visitors, be they domestic or foreign, fall in love with this place and always express their wish to return.”