The first independent study in Spain to analyze the relevance and profitability of golf, conducted by IE University with the collaboration of the Spanish Golf Courses Association (AECG) and the Royal Spanish Golf Federation (RFEG), highlights the important role that the sector can play in the economic recovery phase after the pandemic that has hit Spain.
The study -prologued by Ms. Ana Botín, president of Banco Santander- which has been presented in a virtual institutional event at IE University with the participation of the presidents of the AECG and the RFEG together with the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Ms. Reyes Maroto, and through telematic intervention, the president of CEOE, Mr. Antonio Garamendi, confirms that it is a tourism industry that generates a direct impact of around 5,418 million euros in Spain. Antonio Garamendi, confirms that this is a tourism industry that generates a direct impact of around 5,418 million euros in Spain, an amount that rises to 12,769 million including the indirect impact, consolidating itself as the first destination in the world in international golf tourism, attracting around 1.2 million foreign tourists.
A strategic sector for Spanish tourism
In 2018, 1,195,000 tourists who played golf came to Spain, of which 98.6% were European. During the presentation, a theme that has been emphasized is the quality of this tourism since the average stay is 11.9 days compared to the 7.4 days that the average tourist stays overnight in our country, in addition to the average expenditure generated is 3,850 euros per stay and 324 euros per day.
It is important to highlight that only a small part of these expenses are made in golf courses: 1 out of every 8 euros; the rest (4,640 million euros) is distributed among other sectors such as: hotels, restaurants, stores and transportation, among others.
Another of the great strengths of golf, which was highlighted during the presentation, is that it is a sport that is played during all months of the year, unlike traditional sun and beach tourism, which is mainly concentrated in July and August. The golf tourist, therefore, contributes to solving one of the challenges that the sector has always faced in Spain: deseasonalization.
In addition to the importance of golf for its economic impact, it is also relevant as a generator of quality employment: 95% of the jobs created directly in golf courses are permanent and 94% are full-time, percentages much higher than the national average since, according to INE data cited in the study, in Spain only 73.2% of employment is permanent and 85% is full-time.
Real estate investment catalyst
Another factor that supports the strength of golf as a long-term sustainable economic driver is the figures for investment in second homes by golfers.
According to the study data, 23.7% of tourists who play golf in Spain stay in their second homes, compared to only 5% in the case of the average Spanish tourist.
This translates into a total of 283,000 homes owned with a real estate investment value of 41,937 million euros. Added to this is the fact that this investment is directly associated with an annual recurring expenditure in Spain, with the majority coming at least once a year and 21.49% every quarter.
Claudia Hernandez, president of AECG, commented that “Golf is a tourism industry that generates in Spain 12,769 million euros per year and 121,393 direct or indirect jobs; an engine that is a decisive factor in the choice of Spain as a destination, which attracts 1.2 million foreign tourists each year and brings significant benefits to other sectors, which receive 7 out of every 8 euros generated. We have the opportunity to highlight our strengths and contribute to the economic recovery of our country. Golf is a healthy activity, capable of transmitting the perfect image to project a safe and sustainable destination”.
Gonzaga Escauriaza, president of the RFEG, pointed out that “for a long time I have witnessed how golf tourism has changed many places in our country. Hotels have been closed during the winter that now remain open, new golf courses have been built where there were none, new leisure and restaurant offers, new transport infrastructures, etc. Undoubtedly, golf tourism has contributed to generate new tourist offers and a deseasonalization that has propelled us to become world leaders”.
Antonio Garamendi, CEOE Presidentsaid through a video that “this study comes at an important time, and it is made by a prestigious institution such as IE. Sport is wealth, jobs and Brand Spain. We are talking about almost two million tourists who came to play golf in Spain, making it possible for there to be not only a summer season, but also a winter season. Golf contributes and will continue to contribute a great deal to the Spain Brand. From CEOE we would like to convey our full support. As far as possible, we are ready to help you. Know that we are on top of the VAT issue. Golf companies are very important”.
Reyes Maroto, Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism: “We are analyzing the lowering of VAT on golf”.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, has affirmed, during the course of the telematic presentation of the study “Golf, catalyst of economic activity in Spain”, that the Spanish Government is studying the application of a VAT reduction to the golf sector from 21 to 10 percent. In this way, a window is opened to meet a claim that dates back to 2012, when the increase was applied.
“We are working on this claim of lowering the VAT on golf. It is one of the measures we are analyzing, making the numbers to know the impact. It is on the Government’s agenda,” said the Minister, who highlighted the importance of the study for its ability to demonstrate with numbers “that golf is more than a sport. It transcends sports to reach tourism”.
In the words of Reyes Maroto, “golf is called to be a protagonist and an important element in the recovery of this pandemic”.
“The tourism-sports binomial is strategic, and proof of this are these figures. We have 1.2 million tourists with an average expenditure higher than the rest, we are the leading golf tourist destination in Europe and we intend to continue to be so”, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism stated emphatically.
“Golf is a healthy and safe activity in front of the Covid.”
In her speech, Reyes Maroto highlighted the benefits of golf, recalling that it is “a healthy activity, safe in front of Covid -with a protocol approved by the authorities- and respectful with the environment. All this makes golf a key element for the post Covid recovery”.
“This protocol was approved in May to open quickly and safely, but many courses have not yet received their customers due to tourist restrictions and low mobility. To minimize this impact from the Government of Spain we are working to open tourist corridors, as there are already for the Balearic and Canary Islands,” he added.
In this sense, the Minister suggested that among all the actors it is necessary to “reinforce these protocols to make our tourism model a more resilient one. In addition to resilience, the tourism model for the future must be adapted to technological changes and aspire to sustainability, and in this aspect golf is a benchmark”. In conclusion, “it is an exciting challenge to modernize our tourism model, digitize it and make it as sustainable as possible”.
Data sources
The study on the economic impact of golf in Spain has been carried out by IE University based on a questionnaire to the companies that manage golf courses in Spain – carried out by the AECG and the REFG – as well as Mastercard data that collects the spending patterns of foreign tourists in Spain up to one month before and one month after their visit, and microdata from the Tourism Expenditure Survey provided by the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística).
About the Spanish Golf Courses Association
The Association is a non-profit business organization created to defend the business interests of the golf industry and was founded in November 2015. The Spanish Golf Courses Association brings together a group of more than 180 golf courses throughout the Spanish territory and is an institution with an integrating vocation, which intends to structure the sector generating added value to its member companies; in it coexist all types of courses regardless of their legal form: Sports Associations, Commercial Companies, etc.
About the Royal Spanish Golf Federation
The Royal Spanish Golf Federation is a private, non-profit Association, with legal personality and its own assets, independent of those of its members. It has full capacity to act for the fulfillment of its purposes and is composed of regional sports federations, clubs, athletes, technicians-coaches, judges-referees and other interested groups that promote, practice or contribute to the development of the sport of golf within the Spanish territory.
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