Would you like to know why golfers choose the Costa del Sol to enjoy their favorite sport? This and many other important questions to analyze the motivations of this type of traveler are answered in a thorough study prepared by the public body Turismo Costa del Sol, which also highlights the economic impact that the golf industry generates in this tourist destination.
A fact to highlight is that, according to this study, recently presented by the president of Turismo Costa del Sol and the Provincial Council of Malaga, Elías Bendodo, who was accompanied by the president of the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation, Pablo Mansilla, “the impact that golf generates on the Costa del Sol already amounts to 1,410 million euros in direct and indirect production, and 775 million euros in direct and indirect income”.
“To get an idea of the relevance of this tourism,” added Bendodo, “the average expenditure of the golf tourist trip exceeds 1,800 euros, with an average stay of 12.31 days.”
This study reveals, in the words of Bendodo, that “golf tourism has become one of the best ambassadors of the Costa del Sol, with the province of Malaga accumulating 67% of the total number of golf courses in Andalusia and being the one with the most golf courses in the whole country, almost 70”. Bendodo emphasized the effect that this segment has on job creation “with about 17,700 jobs, either directly or indirectly”. The study covers the area called Costa del Golf, which includes the province of Malaga and the Cadiz area of Sotogrande.
THE GOLF OFFER IN COSTA DEL SOL
After reflecting the current situation of golf in Europe, where there are just over 4 million registered players and up to more than 7 including non-federated golfisfas, the study breaks down the supply of Costa del Golf courses, which in the coastal strip that runs from Velez Malaga to San Roque offers a total of 69 golf courses, with 1,134 holes spread over 16 municipalities. The Costa del Golf has 67% of the courses in Andalusia, that is, more than 2 out of 3 are in Costa del Golf, which offers a great strength for improving the competitiveness of the golf segment. Thus, seven out of ten golf courses on the Costa del Golf offer 18 holes, which quantitatively means 49 golf courses.
The 9-hole courses represent 23.2% of the total offer, which represents 16 courses in absolute numbers. And finally, the least frequent are the 27-hole courses, which are offered by 4 courses and represent 5.8% of the destination’s offer.
The 69 courses are distributed in 16 municipalities: Marbella, Mijas and San Roque, concentrate more than half of the offer of courses and holes of the Costa del Sol – Costa del Golf destination. Marbella is the leading municipality, with 15 courses and 243 holes, which represents more than 20% of the total offer of the Costa del Golf. Mijas, with more than 17% of the courses, offers 12 courses and 189 holes. San Roque, the municipality where the Sotogrande macro-urbanization is located, has 9 golf courses, 8 of 18 holes and 1 of 27 holes, which represents 13% of the courses and more than 15% of the holes.
Estepona and Benahavís are the next municipalities with the highest concentration of golf courses, 8 each, which represents 11.6% of the destination’s offer each.
Benahavís offers a greater number of holes with 8 18-hole courses and only one 9-hole course, which adds up to 135 holes and represents almost 12% of the offer.
Estepona has 5 18-hole courses and 3 9-hole courses, totaling 117 holes, which represents 10.3% of the offer.
Malaga, Benalmádena and Casares are the next municipalities with the highest concentration of golf courses, 3 each, which represents 4.3% of the destination’s offer each.
Malaga has one 27-hole course, one 18-hole course and one 9-hole course, totaling 54 holes and representing 4.8% of the offer.
Benalmádena and Casares have the same offer, 1 9-hole course and 2 18-hole courses, totaling 45 holes, which represents 4.0% of the offer.
Alhaurín de la Torre, Vélez Málaga, Rincón de la Victoria, Antequera, Manilva, Torremolinos and Ojén offer one course per municipality.
50% of the municipalities that offer golf courses represent 11.6% of the courses (8 courses) and 11.9% of the holes (135 holes).
TOURIST DEMAND
Golf tourism on the Costa del Sol is led by the United Kingdom, followed by Scandinavia with special importance, France and Germany. These are the main markets of origin of the “golf tourists” in the Costa del Sol, that is to say, tourists whose main motivation in their trip has been to enjoy playing golf.
In a second rank of importance we find tourists from Spain, Holland, Portugal and Ireland.
In third place, in terms of the volume of tourists who visit us to play golf, are the markets of Belgium, Switzerland and Italy.
With respect to the employment situation of golf tourists who visit us, it is quite polarized in two categories, employed or retired, with the rest of the options being practically nonexistent.
Tourists who are “employed or self-employed” account for nearly four out of every five of the total number of tourists who visit us with the intention of playing golf, 79.8% of the total.
The majority of golf tourists interviewed who have visited the Costa del Sol destination have declared themselves to be users of social networks (either daily or occasionally), reaching 57.6%.
One in five golf tourists say they use social media on a daily basis. However, about two out of five use it occasionally.
“Traveling with friends” is the main form of travel of the golf tourist in Costa del Sol- Costa del Golf, as this is stated by nearly four out of ten of the tourists interviewed.
It is closely followed, as the second most chosen form of travel by golf tourists to our destination, by “traveling as a couple”, indicated by more than one out of three interviewees.
Golf tourists who visited the Costa del Sol destination had an average expenditure for their trip of 1,827 euros, which represents an average daily expenditure, including transportation, accommodation and spending on the golf course of 148.46 euros per day. On the days they played golf, the average daily expenditure amounted to 205.61 euros per day.
Golf tourists were asked, in addition to playing golf, what other specific motivation they had to make this trip to the Costa del Sol. Enjoying the sun and the beach continue to be the main leisure motivation for choosing our destination, indicated by seven out of ten golf tourists interviewed. The second most important motivation is the desire to “enjoy the leisure and recreational activities on offer”.
The most representative interval is the one corresponding to those golf tourists who stay in the Costa del Sol from 4 to 8 days; accounting for almost four out of every ten tourists.
In second place are those who stayed in the destination from 9 to 15 days, a stay of almost three out of every ten tourists interviewed. Longer stays, from 16 to 30 days, have a high representation of more than one fifth, followed by more than 30 days.
Golf tourists visiting the Costa del Sol are highly active and dynamic. Apart from playing golf, the activity most mentioned by these tourists is the realization of routes through historical and natural sites, an activity mentioned by more than four out of ten tourists interviewed.
Deciding factors for the choice of destination
More than three quarters of the tourists interviewed highlighted the climate as a determining factor when choosing a destination. Next in importance, loyalty to the destination, the diversity of leisure offered by Costa del Sol-Costa del Golf. A third block of determining aspects when choosing Malaga as a golf destination pointed out by the tourists are the visit to friends and relatives, the diversity of the existing offer, the attractive resources, and the recommendations, among others.
Golf tourists who visited Costa del Sol used the Internet as the main channel of information to learn about the golf offer offered by our destination.
More than half of the golf tourists interviewed said that they used the Internet to find out about the golf offer. Less than 5% of those interviewed said they had consulted the website visitacostadelsol.com. This is followed by travel agencies, as stated by nearly one out of three tourists interviewed.
Destination assessment
Golf tourists gave the Costa del Sol-Costa del Golf destination an average score of 9.24 out of 10. The most highly rated aspect was public safety. It is followed by the attention and treatment received during their visit, value for money, tourist information and leisure and entertainment, all rated with a score equal to or higher than 9.24, the average score of the destination.
The second most highly rated aspects were shopping, accommodation, beaches and their services and the urban environment, with scores of over 9.0 points. Also noteworthy, in third place, was the high rating given by these tourists to the other aspects: road signs, restaurants, accessibility, car rental, bus service and access to the destination; all of them rated with a score of more than 8.17 points out of 10.
It is worth noting the high degree of recommendation of the Costa del Sol destination by golf tourists. Thus, 98.7% of the tourists interviewed stated that they would recommend the Costa del Sol as a golf destination.
Golf tourists show an exceptional degree of satisfaction with their experience in the Costa del Sol destination. More than nine out of ten golf tourists interviewed rate their stay as very satisfactory and about 4.3% as positive. The degree of “expected” satisfaction barely reaches 1.2% of the total number of golf tourists interviewed, being null the negative or very negative manifestations.
HIGH INTENSITY TOURISM
The following are the main results of the demand of the high intensity golf tourist in the Costa del Sol, defined as that tourist who indicates that the main and determining motivation for visiting the destination is to play golf, and also states that he/she plays golf two or more days out of every three days that he/she is in any of the municipalities of the Costa del Sol.
– High Intensity Golf tourism on the Costa del Sol is led by the international market, representing about 85% of these tourists.
– Three out of every ten of these golf tourists who came to the Costa del Sol were 60 years of age or older, which determines that the average age of the tourists who have been conceptualized as “high intensity golfers” is 51.2 years old.
– The most representative intervals of stay are 4 to 8 days, followed by 9 to 15 days, which makes the average stay of these golf tourists visiting the Costa del Sol destination 7.02 days – High Intensity golf tourists who visited the Costa del Sol destination made an average daily expenditure, including transportation, accommodation and spending on the golf course of 198 euros per day.
– During the days when these tourists play golf, the average daily expenditure is higher, reaching 231 euros per day.
– In addition to playing golf, another attribute that motivated them to choose the Costa del Sol destination for this trip was to enjoy the sun and the beach, indicated by more than eight out of ten tourists, followed by the desire to “enjoy the leisure and recreational activities” offered by our destination, as well as cultural motivations.
– Hotel accommodation is the leading typology among these high intensity golf tourists, chosen by nearly three out of every four tourists interviewed, with the 4-star hotel being the most demanded, followed by the 5-star hotel.
– Climate, loyalty to the destination and leisure diversity are, in this order, the deciding factors for high intensity golf tourists to choose our destination.
– Golf tourists show a high degree of satisfaction with their experience in the Costa del Sol destination. More than nine out of ten golf tourists interviewed rate their stay in Costa del Golf as very satisfactory.
– The most highly valued aspect was the attention and treatment received, followed by public safety, leisure and entertainment, beaches and services, value for money and shopping.
– High loyalty to the destination of high-intensity golf tourists. Nearly eight out of ten plan to return to the Costa del Sol in the next three years and 16% say they “might return”.
– High intensity golf tourists make an average of 4.6 trips to the golf course during their stay in the destination (estimated at 7 days).
– This golf tourist reports making an average of 4.7 trips per year with the motivation of playing golf, with the months of October, February, November and March, in that order, being the months with the highest number of trips.
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF INTERNAL AGENTS
From the analysis of the opinion of a representative sample of internal agents (businessmen, professionals and public officials of the Costa del Golf), the following conclusions can be drawn:
Strategic markets
Scandinavia is identified as the main strategic market for the future, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany. In third place, the Eastern European countries, France and Ireland are indicated as strategic. Other interesting markets are Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium.
Most interesting products
The experts interviewed pointed out that it is necessary to bet on the practice of golf and to be able to enjoy an excellent gastronomic and enological offer in the destination. They also agree on the importance of selling this golf destination together with the complete leisure and party offer that Costa del Sol has to offer.
Other attractions to which the golf activity can be linked and which are of great interest to the profile of this segment are culture, health and beauty, luxury establishments and residential offerings.
They also point out that it is interesting to design products for senior golf tourists with long stays, a strategic segment, given the greater availability of time and money.
Main advantages of Costa del Sol
When asked about the reasons why this destination has comparative advantages over its competition with respect to the golf segment, the responses were:
The first reason given by a large majority was the climate.
Secondly, they pointed out the wide complementary offer of our destination, with the variety of nightlife, leisure and cultural activities, as well as the volume and concentration of golf courses in the Costa del Golf.
In third place, aspects such as the quality of services and facilities, having an international airport with connections to more than 125 destinations, security, infrastructure and good communications stand out.
In fourth place, other advantages stand out, such as the quality-price ratio, the wide range of extra-hotel and hotel offers and the fact that it is a consolidated destination.
Satisfaction with the quality of services
Another interesting aspect was to know the opinion of businessmen, professionals and public officials on the situation of the main services related to the tourist whose main motivation is to play golf. The results obtained were:
In the first place, it is worth mentioning the high perception of the leisure and recreational offer complementary to golf, followed by the gastronomic offer and the wide and good quality of the hotel accommodation, all of them with ratings above 8 out of 10.
In second place, with notable ratings between 8 and 7 out of 10, are the atmosphere of the cities, the quality of the courses and their facilities, together with the cultural offer, the attention and treatment and the quality/price ratio.
Lastly, although with relatively low scores, rental accommodation and the pace of the countryside are noted, both below 7.
ANALYSIS OF EXTERNAL AGENTS
From the analysis of the opinion of a representative sample of external agents (foreign tour operators working with the Costa del Golf), the following conclusions can be drawn:
The Costa del Sol is currently the main golf destination with which the external agents and operators interviewed work. In fact, all of those interviewed say they work with the Costa del Golf destination, but not with the same intensity. Nearly a quarter of those interviewed ranked the Costa del Golf as their main destination, 31% as the second most important, and the rest, nearly half (46%) in lower positions.
The Algarve in Portugal is the second most important destination for international agents, mentioned by nearly eight out of ten respondents. Nearly half of the agents who mentioned it ranked it as their main or second most important destination in their portfolio.
In third place are Spain’s island destinations, the Balearic and Canary Islands, and the rest of Portugal, each of which was mentioned by a third of those interviewed. Morocco, Costa Blanca, Scotland, Mauritius and Costa de la Luz, occupy a prominent place, indicated by about a quarter of the agents interviewed. Followed by Costa Brava, Murcia, Italy, Belek in Antalya, Ireland and the French Riviera, mentioned by a tenth of the interviewees.
Most interesting attributes
When asked about the most interesting attributes of the Costa del Golf destination for this segment and its future competitiveness, the experts interviewed pointed out that it is necessary to bet on the practice of golf and to be able to enjoy an excellent gastronomic and enological offer in the destination, pointed out by almost two out of three interviewees.
They also agree on the importance of selling our golf destination together with the complete cultural offer of the Costa del Sol, highlighted by nearly half of the interviewees.
Other attractions to which the golf activity is linked and of great interest to the profile of this segment is the wide range of leisure and party and health and beauty, pointed out by around a third; followed by shopping, interior and nature, the beach and enjoying the magnificent climate.
They also point out that it is interesting to design products for business tourists (MICE) and senior golf couples.
Other interesting attractions are the wide complementary offer of the destination and the authenticity of Andalusian traditions for long-distance issuing countries such as Japan and Canada, among others.
Satisfaction with the quality of services
It is worth highlighting the high perception of the recreational and leisure offer complementary to golf; followed by the gastronomic offer and the wide and good quality of hotel accommodation, the atmosphere of the cities together with the quality of the courses, all of them with ratings higher than 8 out of 10.
In second place, with notable ratings between 8 and 7 out of 10, are the quality of the golf course facilities, the cultural offer, the attention and treatment, the quality/price ratio and the good offer of rental accommodation.
Finally, although with a relatively low score, the pace of the course was noted, with a rating of 6.8.
Golf tourism forecast for 2017
In general, operators foresee for 2017 an increase in their activity with the Costa del Sol destination much higher than the global average of the sector. They estimate a growth of 6.3% in the overall evolution of golf activity this year compared to 18.5% in the Costa del Sol.
ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF GOLF TOURISM ON THE COSTA DEL SOL
Depending on the way of calculation, the number of tourists is estimated to range between 516,000 and 501,400, so in order to estimate the number of tourists who visited the Golf Coast an average has been taken. Thus, it is estimated that during 2016 the number of golf tourists amounted to 508,700.
Estimated tourism expenditure
The average daily expenditure of golf tourists is 148.4 euros, which includes expenses for transportation to the destination, lodging, restaurants, food purchases, non-food purchases, transportation at the destination, cultural or leisure expenses, green fees, buggy or club rental, other golf-related expenses, etc. In addition, as indicated in the demand analysis chapter, they have stated that on average they stayed 12.3 days, according to the demand survey carried out, so that an average expenditure per tourist is estimated at 1,827 euros.
Impact on employment
It is estimated that this expenditure has generated some 17,700 jobs. Of these, 10,580 are direct jobs and the remaining 7,100 are indirect and induced. The sectoral distribution of the impacts reflects a greater incidence in the most labor-intensive branches of activity, such as “Hotels and restaurants” (35.9%), “Trade and others” (30.7%) or “Sports, cultural and recreational activities” (13.1%).
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