Tenerife Hosts the Professional Event of the Most Important Golf Promotion in Europe
250 representatives of tour operators, hotels and golf courses from 26 countries attend The IAGTO Golf Trophy from May 17 to 25.
From May 17 to 25, Tenerife hosts the fifth edition of the IAGTO Golf Trophy, a professional golf promotion event held every year at a different point in Spain and considered one of the most important of those taking place in Europe. Organized by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators, and with the participation of Tenerife Tourism through its Tenerife Golf brand, it will bring 250 representatives of tour operators, hotels and golf courses from 26 countries to the Island, in which it is already the edition with the largest number of attendees of all those held so far.
The details of the event were presented today [Monday 20] by the vice president and insular councilor of Tourism, Alberto Bernabé, together with the general director of IAGTO, Carlton Carugati and his representative in Spain, Marco Polacci.
Bernabé recalled the importance of this segment for Tenerife "because it is a tourist who spends more on the destination, so events like this are essential to promote the island and attract new visitors to practice this sport, especially during the season summer".
For his part, Carlton Carugati recalled that the IAGTO brings more than six thousand companies from 103 countries, including 701 golf tour operators in 64 countries together. "During the event, more than 2,000 meetings will be held, in addition to the presence of 93 specialized tour operators from 23 countries and more than a hundred suppliers, including 23 companies from Tenerife." The meeting is a powerful promotional action to sell the destination that organizes it. Tenerife managed to be designated seat of this edition after competing with other places that also opted to organize it. It is also the most important golf event held on the Island since the IGTM (International Golf Travel Market) of 2015, which affects its position of privilege among the golf destinations of the continent.
Canada, China or India, along with some of the countries that will be present at the event, will also include members of the Tenerife Golf brand and a total of 72 accommodation and golf courses on the peninsula. The meeting will allow Tenerife to publicize its offer as a quality golf destination in emerging countries to diversify the markets of issuers from which it receives players, while also strengthening the destination among those who have visited it before. In the same way, it will allow consolidating the work that is developed with the main international tour operators that move golfing tourists in order to continue attracting a greater number of them to the Island.
Program
The event will last for nine days. The first three days will be a trip of familiarization with 35 specialized tour operators, and the same will happen the last three days, with other 35 assistants. Meanwhile, between the 20th and the 22nd, the main event of the IAGTO Golf Trophy will take place, where 70 other professionals will join them.
The program prepared from Tenerife Tourism includes everything from playing in all the fields of the Island to visiting hotels of the Tenerife Golf brand or to carry out training workshops on Tenerife as a destination for this sport. It also includes complementary activities: whale watching, visit to the Teide National Park, a trip to La Gomera to see the Tecina Golf, the tasting of Tenerife wines and the traditional gastronomy of the Island or the observation of stars. This planning seeks to show Tenerife as a complete destination with a multitude of offers and possibilities, not only for the golf practitioner but also in general for any type of visitor.
20 Million Euros
The practice of golf on the island generated nearly 20 million euros in 2018. During that year, almost 310,000 green fees were sold (fees to be able to play in the fields), of which more than 78,000 corresponded to residents in Tenerife. Outside of this market, the three main foreign nationalities were the United Kingdom, with 28.9%; Germany, with 28%; and the Nordic countries, with 12.4%.
During their stay in Tenerife, 1.6% of the 5.8 million tourists that the island received last year practiced golf, which is almost 100,000 travelers. The total expenditure of this segment exceeds 1,680 euros on average per person (a 4.6% increase compared to 2017, a figure much higher than the average of tourists on the island, which stands at 1,111 euros). These visitors concentrate their expenses on catering, car rental, sports activities and shopping.