Tourism

Spain Golf Holidays – Spain’s tourism industry shines at Service Excellence Awards

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Many of Spain's hotels and golf courses won at Service Excellent Awards gala

Son Muntaner was one of Spain’s winners

Several of Europe’s top golf clubs, teams, and pros were present at the event in the UK, where 59club presented its awards for outstanding service to its members and visitors. Many of those awards came to Spain.

The 59club Service Excellence Awards recognize the best customer service providers for having achieved the highest standards of excellence during 2022.

The winners are selected based on the results of mystery shopper audits that compare the quality of service offered to visitors, club members, and prospective members to objective benchmarking standards set by 59club.

About 40 individual and team awards were handed in 18 categories at the event, honouring service excellence across all departments from sales and service to operations and retail to the spa and golf course to the front desk and food and beverage service.

Many Spanish golf industry representatives walked up to the stage to accept awards, after beating competitors from neighbouring markets including Portugal, Italy, and Greece.

The Golf Operations team at Finca Cortesin, led by Rocio Sánchez, was named “Team of the Year” by 59club Europe South, while Sánchez herself was named “Golf Manager of the Year”.

Food and beverage director at Camiral Golf & Wellness, Marta Castells, and head greenkeeper at Son Muntaner, Paco Gavira, were respectively voted “Food and Beverage Manager of the Year” and “Greenkeeper of the Year” for southern Europe.

“Celebrating accomplishments is important to our values and a priority at 59club. Our venues around Southern Europe not only continue to give exceptional experiences but continually seek to further expand their trips by striving for that additional 1% day after day”, adds Lee Mathew Waggott, Managing Director of 59club Europe South.

“In a highly competitive environment, being nominated for and winning an award is a great honour, and the ability to share this recognition with individuals and teams across the property is incredibly important”. Waggott continues, “We are looking forward to the upcoming season and we welcome more progressive and ambitious teams to our awards next year”.

This year, 59club awarded 28 “Golden Flags”, with recipients including Camiral Golf & Wellness, Club de Golf Alcanada, Finca Cortesin, and Golf Son Muntaner; 17 “Silver Flags”, with Infinitum being Spain’s representative; and 15 “Bronze Flags”, with recipients including Golf Son Quint, Golf Son Vida, and Pula Golf Resort.

Book your golf holidays in Spain with Tee Times Golf Agency and enjoy some of the finest golf courses in Europe.

You can also read other posts about Spain Golf Holidays:
Spain welcomed 4.1 million tourists in January
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Spain Golf Holidays – Spain welcomed 4.1 million tourists in January

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Canary Islands were the most visited region in Spain last january

Canary Islands attracted the most tourists to Spain in January

According to figures released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), January 2023 saw 4.1 million international tourists visit Spain, a 65.8% increase over the same month last year. These visitors spent about 5.218 billion euros while they were in the country, an increase of 71.1%.

Statistics on Tourist Movements at Borders (FRONTUR) figures reveal that the United Kingdom was the country that sent the most tourists to Spain, with 742,212, 17.9% of the total, doubling the amount reported in January 2022.

There were also a large number of visitors from France and Germany. France contributed with 485,116 tourists and Germany with another 478,258. On the other hand, the United States, Italy and Ireland were the countries that registered the biggest annual growth.

The Canary Islands attract the most tourists, accounting for 32.7% of all visitors and seeing a spending rise of 50.9%; Madrid comes in second, with 16.8% of all visitors and a spending increase of 127.6%; and Catalonia, with 15.4% of all visitors and a spending increase of 83.7%.

After these, the next three most popular destinations are Andalusia (13%), Costa Blanca (10.3%), and the Balearic Islands (2.8%).

The average length of stay for all these tourists was 8.5 days, which is down 1.3 days from last year’s figures.

Spain is one of the most popular golf holiday destinations in Europe and has some of the best golf courses on the European continent.

Book your golf holidays in Spain with Tee Times Golf Agency and enjoy the stunning golf courses, the glamorous hotels, the great food, the amazing weather, and the vibrant Spanish culture and way of life.

You can also read other posts about Spain Golf Holidays:
Spain golf resorts and golf courses compete in service awards
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Golf all year

Portugal Golf – Golf generated record revenues in Portugal in 2022

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Vale do Lobo Royal Golf Course. Golf generates record revenues in Portugal.

Green fees generated record revenues in Portugal last year

In counter cycle with the peaks in tourism demand, golf is preparing for its first high season of year, which starts in March and lasts until May. With the great revenues obtained in 2022 following the interregnum imposed by the pandemic, there is reason for confidence.

Revenues from golf in Portugal hit a record high of 154 million euros in 2022, a 6 percent rise from 2019, the last year before the pandemic, thanks to a total of 3 million rounds played. However, the actual effect of the sport on the Portuguese economy is expected to be far greater.

“The 154 million euros are only from green fees, not from any additional purchases made while at the golf course. rental of buggies, provision of meals, and teaching of related skills are only a few examples of the many businesses revolving around this sport”, says Frederico Brion Sanches, board member of the National Council of the Golf Industry (CNIG).

Foreign tourists are the main ones responsible for record revenues in the country, representing 80 percent of the rounds played last year. It is in the Algarve that the international market assumes greater weight (92 percent) with the British and Irish in the majority, followed by the Scandinavians and France.

“Playing four or five times throughout a week in Portugal is the norm for visitors from other countries. Non-Portuguese players are responsible for a significantly greater number of rounds compared to their Portuguese counterparts”, as Brion Sanches puts it.

Portugal has made the first step in establishing itself as a golf destination, and the country’s worldwide accolades enable it to compete with its key competitors, like Spain or Italy.

In 2019, for the sixth year in a row, Portugal has been named Europe’s Best Golf Destination by the World Golf Awards, and it has also been chosen as Europe’s Best Golf Destination by the World Travel Awards five times.

Frederico Brion Sanches thinks the industry has a lot to develop, but he cautions that more flights, more destinations, better air connections, and more convenient schedules are all essential, and defends an air bridge between Lisbon and the Algarve.

The lack of human resources, transversal to all areas of tourism, is another of the challenges pointed out by Brion Sanches, along with sustainability.

“Last but not least, we should expand our efforts to promote Portugal as a golf holiday destination. We are talking about more marketing campaigns and the constant promotion of Portugal as a golf destination”, he concludes.

Book your golf holidays in Portugal with Tee Times Golf Agency and enjoy some of the best golf courses in Europe.

You can also read other posts about Golf in Portugal:
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