The international association IAGTO (International Association of Golf Tour Operators) has chosen the province of Cadiz as the ‘Golf Destination of the Year 2024 for Southern Europe’. It has just made it public during the course of its European convention that is being held these days in Malaga. The IAGTO Awards are the result of the votes of the 660 golf tour operators members of this Association, who choose by this way the golf destinations that have offered an exceptional service to their clients or to the industry during the previous year.
The 4th vice president of the Diputación de Cádiz and deputy of Tourism, Germán Beardo, has congratulated the twenty golf courses in the province, “all of them with magnificent facilities”. From Diputación values all the possibilities presented by the province of Cadiz for people who want to practice this sport, both for these infrastructures and for its climate and the amount of associated services -complementary offer-, which make up a very complete experience for those who play golf in this province.
The climate of Cadiz enjoys an annual average of almost 18 degrees, and the minimum temperatures in the coldest months of the year are around 10 degrees. This good climate is reinforced by an average of 330 days of sunshine a year.
The work of the Provincial Tourism Board of the Provincial Council of Cadiz for this sports segment has focused, so far, on positioning the province as a quality destination for playing golf. To this end, the Tourist Board directs its efforts along lines such as: promoting air connections to the province; participating in specific fairs and events, such as this one at IAGTO; reaching agreements with tour operators in this sector; or specialized marketing and advertising campaigns.
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IAGTO: the world’s leading golf tourism organization
IAGTO’s European convention, which is being held in Malaga, is a professional event with two full days focused on meetings between buyers, suppliers and tourism organizations. It is attended by 800 professionals of different nationalities. The European convention system replicates the model of the Asian and North American conventions.
IAGTO is considered the world’s leading golf tourism organization: it is estimated that its tour operators control between 85-90% of the golf package holiday business sold worldwide. The convention taking place these days in Malaga can be qualified as the most important event at a European level for the tour operator in this segment. It should be borne in mind that tour operators offer package tours to end consumers and, therefore, are sellers of specific proposals and destinations.
In this context, the award granted to the province of Cadiz in the European edition of this 2024 is a great opportunity to market Cadiz as a golf tourist destination.
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Analysis of golf tourism in Cádiz
The Tourist Board commissioned the consulting firm Adeitur to produce a report on the golf sector in the province, to be presented in the year 2022. This study has revealed that golf as a whole contributes more than 774 million euros per year to the province of Cadiz, of which the direct economic impact is about 389 million euros per year.
The average expenditure of each of these golf tourists in Cadiz is around 122 euros per day, a figure above the average overall expenditure of tourists in Cadiz.
Golf is considered a priority tourism and sports industry because of its potential to attract foreign visitors and reduce seasonality.
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