Fresh bid to bad big spending golfers

The Balearic golfing fraternity is to launch a promotional campaign this winter in a bid to cash in on the already lucrative industry and attract more golfers to the islands between May and July. Yesterday the Balearic Minister for Tourism, Celesti Alomar met commercial chiefs and the Association of Balearic Golfers to analyse the market's performance this year and to discuss the immediate future. This year 100'000 golfers visited the Balearics to play on the region's 23 courses and spent 30'000 million pesetas, an average of 34'000 pesetas per golfer, per day. Not only has the golfing industry generated more money than the gross national output of the Balearic agricultural sector, a golfer's average daily expenditure is far superior to the average of 20'000 pesetas spent per day by the traditional sun and sea holidaymakers. The Balearics' first golf course, Son Vida, was built in 1964 and sparked a huge boom with courses springing up at a rate of two every three years until reaching the current figure of 23; 20 in Majorca, two in Ibiza and one in Minorca.