The Association of Golf Courses of the Costa Blanca and the Valencian Community (ACGCBCV) jointly organised with the Costa Blanca Tourism Board and the OET of Munich, a Fam Trip with German golf tour operators and specialist media that took place last week, also counting on the collaboration of Turisme Comunitat Valenciana and the tourism councils of the municipalities of Pilar de la Horadada, Algorfa, Monforte del Cid, Alicante, Altea and Benidorm.
Germany is one of the largest golf markets in Europe, with over 650,000 players and a long historical tradition as a source of golf tourists looking for destinations with a more benign climate in the autumn, winter and spring months where they can enjoy outdoor sports.
The group of German visitors was made up of specialist tour operators, travel agencies and golf media from the Teutonic country, who were accompanied by the staff of the Spanish Tourism Office in Munich and who, in addition to visiting numerous golf courses and hotels during the 3 days that the Fam Trip lasted, travelled from south to north along the Costa Blanca, enjoying the rich local cuisine and guided tourist visits to the municipalities of Alicante, Altea and Benidorm.
Golf is one of the most effective products to fight against tourist seasonality, given that its sales season does not include the summer. This strategic value is going to increase, as climate change is causing increasingly warmer summers, which result in a loss of sun and beach tourists in favour of destinations with a less warm climate. In addition to this important de-seasonalising value, golf tourism generates 500,000 overnight stays annually in the hotels of the Valencian Community, an annual economic impact of €745 million and more than 9,000 jobs a year in the region.
