Today, a working meeting between fifty tour operators specialized in golf with Andalusian suppliers, mainly golf courses and hotels, is being held at the luxurious resort hotel Villa Padierna, where Michelle Obama stayed during her vacations in Spain, in a conference organized by IAGTO (International Association of Golf Tour Operators) and Turismo Andaluz.
The tour operators participating in the business meeting come from fifteen countries from various parts of the world, such as Argentina, United States, India, Morocco, Lithuania, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Holland, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. These last three are, together with the Scandinavian countries, the main foreign markets for Andalusian golf. The purpose of this professional event is to close business deals and promote this sector in Andalusia.
The meetings between each tour operator and the various suppliers are numerous, since they are limited to a few minutes in duration and with pre-arranged appointments. A total of 1,125 appointments had been pre-arranged.
According to data provided by IAGTO President Peter Walton, 345 golf tour operators in 46 countries sell the destination Spain and 58% of all operators sell Andalusia. As for the state of the golf market, this 2015 is the fourth consecutive year of growth in the volume of traveling golfers, with an average of 9.8% worldwide in the period 2012-2014 and 9.5% at the European level.
With regard to figures for the first quarter of this year, compared to that period in 2014, a worldwide increase of 8% and a European increase of 8.8% were recorded, while advance bookings grew by 8% and 8.8%, respectively.
Spain has consistently ranked as the number one destination in terms of importance to IAGTO tour operators, but in terms of how fast the destination is growing, it dropped to seventh place in 2013, behind Portugal (second) and Morocco (fifth).
The meeting organized by IAGTO and Turismo Andaluz included yesterday the celebration of a golf tournament for professionals (tour operators and suppliers) at Flamingos Golf Club.
The importance of the professional meeting organized by IAGTO and Turismo Andaluz lies in the fact that this international organization brings together 80% of the golf packages sold worldwide through tour operators.
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