08/09/2005 00:00
TW
0
Staff Reporter THE Balearic Islands currently have a “clear situation of too many golf courses,” which is only balanced out by the positive tourism effects, concluded a report carried out by the consulting firm Irea.

In the Balearic Islands there are a total of 21 golf courses and over 7'600 golf licenses, according to the report called Golf tourism and hotel resorts.

The islands have the fifth highest number of golf courses in Spain. But despite this, when it comes to golf licences the islands do not fare so well and appear tenth on the top list, behind Madrid, Catalonia, Andalucia, Valencia, the Basque Country, Castilla y León, Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias.

Golf has become big business in Spain for the tourism and property sectors of the industry, and is capable of generating more than 2'300 million euros per year, according to the findings of the report.

Furthermore, golf attracts more than 500'000 tourists to Spain and the Balearic Islands annually. “Golf tourism in Spain is in process of expanding further, led mainly by the good climate, the high quality golf courses and services and the offer of other things of interest” explained the report. “Although it is true that the number of golf players in Spain has doubled in the last few years, there is something that is growing more; the number of players who are looking for new golfing experiences”, added the report.

The majority of foreign golf players who visit Spain for a sporting holiday stay in hotels (45 percent) or apartments (17 percent), and they usually visit during March, April and October, which is outside of the high tourist season.

The report also highlights the fact that golf tourism is a rich business for Spain, with average spending reaching 340 euros per day per golf player. Half of this money is spent on activities not related to golf.

There are currently more than 300 golf courses throughout Spain, which represents an annual growth near to 8 percent in the last five years.
Spain has more golf courses than any other European country, except France.
Over half of the golf courses (63 percent) are located in coastal regions, such as the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.
Andalucia is positioned as number one in Spain when it comes to the number of golf tourists and the number of golf courses (28 percent of total).