May 7, 2015 – The Andalucía Tourist Board (Turismo Andaluz) in conjunction with the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) is staging an event next week with the aim of strengthening the promotion of golf tourism to all golf destinations within the region.

Over 50 IAGTO golf tour operators from 17 countries will meet with 60 golf resorts, golf courses, hotels and other golf tourism suppliers from the Costa del Sol, Huelva, Almeria, Cadiz, Seville, Cordoba and Granada at the inaugural IAGTO Andalucía Trophy taking place from 11-13 May 2015 in Marbella, Malaga.

With the 2015/16 golfing season just five months away, the timing is designed to arm Europe’s leading golf tour operators with a wider range of great value offers for golf holidays to Andalucía, Europe’s most popular golf destination.

IAGTO chief executive, Peter Walton, said “IAGTO has enjoyed a close working relationship with the tourist boards and private sector of Andalucía for almost two decades, but this event is significant in that it demonstrates the importance that the Andalucía Tourist Board attaches to the golf tourism sector. For Andalucía golf travel is much more than a niche market with golfers being influential in driving all forms of tourism to the region, including of course holidays where golf is the primary purpose of travel.”

In explaining why such an event is needed for what could be considered to be a well-known destinations, Peter Walton added: “Despite its position as the most visited golf destination in Europe, the province includes many great golf destinations that are yet to be discovered by the vast majority of golf travellers, from the desert landscapes of Almeria to the lush natural beauty of Huelva, teaming with bird and marine life. Andalucía is also home to an array of truly unforgettable ‘city golf experiences’ where visitors can immerse themselves in the history and culture of Granada, Cordoba, Malaga, Seville and Cadiz and still play golf every day at a variety of nearby courses.”

“Just as importantly this event will provide golf tour operators with the time to develop new offers for even the most established golf resorts of Costa del Sol and beyond.”

The IAGTO Andalucía Trophy will comprise a series of networking functions, destination briefings and a full day’s workshop in addition to the Trophy itself – a bespoke golf tournament at the Villa Padierna Resort designed to test the on-course skills of operators and suppliers to see if they are a match for their undoubted talent in creating great value golf packages.

Andalucía has the greatest concentration of golf courses in continental Europe with 108 facilities which attracted a total of 452,000 golf visitors in 2013, an increase of 5.4% compared to 2012. These visitors generated revenues of 687 million Euros.

Golf tourism globally is in its fourth year of consecutive growth with forward bookings for the remainder of 2015 up 9.2% on the same time last year.