“GOLF IS A FIRST-RATE ELEMENT IN OUR TOURISM AND SPORTS OFFER”.
With an affable and conciliatory character, the new Minister of Tourism and Sports of the Andalusian Regional Government, Francisco Javier Fernández, has very clear ideas about where the promotion of Andalusian golf should be heading. Born in Utrera, Seville, in 1969, he has a degree in Geography and History and is an expert in Senior Management of Social Institutions.
It is a strategic segment in the tourism sector, it helps to break the seasonality of sun and beach, it attracts more than half a million visitors every year, the expenditure per person is much higher than the average tourist… Is your department really aware of the importance of golf for Andalusia?
-So much so that many of the statements you have just made have their origin precisely in this Ministry. Indeed, Andalusia is a leader in supply in the national territory, we receive 458,000 golf tourists a year -a figure that continues to increase- with an average stay and daily expenditure higher than the general average: around three more days of stay and about 30 euros per day of additional expenditure on the average tourist. These are important figures, but they do not exhaust all the potential of a segment that is strategic for its ability to diversify and deseasonalize the Andalusian destination, taking into account an added quality: that our weather conditions allow the practice of this sport almost 365 days a year and when it is not possible in the rest of Europe.
-What is Turismo Andaluz doing and what does it plan to do to try to increase the number of golf tourists in this autonomous community?
-Since the beginning of 2015 we have had a Strategic Plan for the Promotion of Golf Tourism in Andalusia, with which we are facilitating measures aimed at the development of this segment in our region, boosting the competitiveness of companies and positioning Andalusia as one of the most complete, specialized and consolidated destinations in Europe in this type of tourism.
This plan includes both domestic and foreign actions so that, only in the last quarter we developed a dozen promotional activities including, among others, the presence of the Andalusian offer in the main specialized fair IGTM, and events such as the World Travel Market or the Belfast Golf Expo, as well as the celebration of the Grand Final of the Lady Golf Circuit 2015 in Sancti Petri, the promotional participation in the tournament organized by the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the participation in the tournament organized by the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. by Deal Top”> Trade
in Cordoba or the ‘Lions Club’ that will take place in Huelva at the end of this month. We have also launched a specific communication campaign in specialized media in the main international markets to increase the visibility of our offer.
These are not the only actions, as we recently launched a new channel on social networks dedicated to the ‘Golf in Andalusia’ segment, which we intend to become the meeting point to learn about the destination and facilitate the connection between fans, companies and institutions.
-The Department that you head is trying to reach a consensus with the sector on a new regulation governing the implementation of golf courses of tourist interest in Andalusia. Will the fruit of this dialogue be seen soon?
-In a few months we will have this new regulation approved. Golf is a first-rate element in our tourist and sports offer, so we cannot allow the proliferation of the offer based on strategies that do not harmonize with the tourist or sports requirements that must mark its development. For this reason, the Andalusian Government proposed to modify the current decree to simplify the procedure for the approval of new courses, speed up their processing, rebalance the density of dwellings allowed per facility and guarantee that the new facilities have a real tourist interest, in addition to respecting the sustainable values of the territory.
I have been concerned about contrasting this new regulatory proposal with the entire sector in order to obtain the approval of all the administrations and the highest possible degree of consensus among the agents involved.
-One of the recurring criticisms from environmental groups is that golf courses require large amounts of water resources. However, more and more courses are being irrigated with recycled water, and new technologies mean that water consumption has been significantly reduced in recent years. What is your opinion on this?
-A few days ago I had the opportunity to attend the annual congress of the Spanish Association of Greenkeepers held in Seville. Many would be surprised if they knew the meticulous work carried out by these professionals, and I am not referring exclusively to issues related to the care of the field, but to the research work that allows perfecting the techniques for the use of water resources, the search for new more environmentally friendly treatments or the sharing of technological solutions that improve the efficiency of consumption, of sustainability in general of this segment.
It may be interesting to remember that the concept of sustainability is not a label or a seal that is hung at the entrance of a tourist establishment, but a triple social, economic and environmental commitment that defends the activity while respecting the survival of the environment where it is developed. That is why I believe that we should all assume this commitment and not prolong the debate that for so many years has pitted positions between those who defend the environment, whose work is always to be appreciated, and those who believe that the profitability of each liter of water used in a golf course can justify its existence.
It is not a question, as I say, of confronting positions but of listening and sharing all the opinions that result in the balanced and sustainable development of the sector. A good job is being done in this respect and our obligation, as a public administration, is to ensure that the “more and more fields” included in your question becomes “all Andalusian fields”.
-Another sambenito that weighs on golf is that it is a sport only for the wealthy, when the reality is that there are more than 300,000 Spaniards of all economic conditions who practice it. It is, after soccer, basketball and hunting, the sport with more federated members in Spain, with almost 9 percent of the total number of federated sportsmen and women in the country. What do you think could be done to eradicate this false image of golf as a sport for the elites?
-We started 2015 with more than 45,000 federated players in Andalusia. I share his opinion, because I believe that this figure really moves away the old myths that placed this sport as something elitist and exclusive to a small group of users. And that is the right line to follow. We have proposed to reach more people, to extend its practice among the Andalusian population, for which we keep by Deal Top”> operational the public fields directly managed by the Regional Ministry, which offer very balanced prices, and we expand the number of public learning schools, such as the one we will open in Almeria. We do not design an exclusive offer for professionals but for all the public, even taking advantage of the facilities in coordination with the Andalusian Center of Sports Medicine in order to allow medical examinations to students attending the fields and to implement children’s therapies through the tutored practice of this sport.
-For many years, Andalusia was at the forefront of Spain and even Europe in hosting major international professional tournaments: Ryder Cup, World Series, World Cup, Volvo Masters, Open de España, Masters de Andalucía, Valderrama Masters… Turismo Andaluz made a high investment in sponsoring some of them. Could large investments in such events return or are they already discarded in the short and medium term?
-We do not rule out hosting a major golf event in Andalusia, but we have refocused our promotional objectives towards those actions that have shown a more visible return on investment, not only in terms of the volume of visitors received but also in terms of the projection of the Andalusian brand. In this sense, we have participated in the Spanish Professional Championship and we have an outstanding presence in the Senior European Tour and in British amateur circuits for junior players, as well as in professional tournaments of the European Tour such as the Nordea Masters in Sweden, the Paris Open, the Swiss Omega European Masters, the Made in Denmark or the Dutch KLM Open.
Throughout the year we carry out more than 50 actions in 3 continents. I can assure you that no other region of Spain has made a greater effort in this segment than Andalusia. This year we have even reinforced our promotional strategy by promoting the participation of the Andalusian offer in various fairs and specialized conferences focused on the British and German markets and other issuers of interest such as Denmark, Norway or the Czech Republic. We have also developed collaboration agreements with the main operators in this segment, such as the International Association of Golf Tour Operators, which has allowed us to participate in the main meeting point of the sector in the North American market and the celebration of the IAGTO Andalucía Golf Trophy in Marbella.
In short, we maintain the traditional line of action but without neglecting those actions that allow us to cover new market niches that are becoming more and more important in the sector, such as family or junior golf.
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