Worldwide golf holiday sales by golf tour operators have grown by more than 20% over the past two years.
According to IAGTO, the global trade organisation of the golf tourism industry, golf tour operators’ holiday sales globally grew by an average of 11.1% in 2013, on the back of 9.3% growth in 2012 - and sales are continuing to forge ahead this year.
IAGTO Chief Executive Peter Walton said, “It is useful for golf destinations and individual golf courses and resorts to see how their golf visitor arrival figures compare with the overall growth in golf holiday package sales. But, of course, not all operators were able to post a growth in business, with 11.9% of golf tour operators experiencing a decline in sales in 2013.
“However, it was interesting to see that only 4.8% of operators showed a drop in year-on-year bookings taken in January 2014, and all indications are that 2014 will be another good year.”
Splitting the data out geographically, golf holidays booked by European golf travellers through IAGTO operators grew by 10.1% in 2013 (following an increase of 9.4% in 2012); North American golf travel sales were up from 13.5% growth in 2012 to 14.6% in 2013; and outbound Asian and Australasian golf holidays were up 12.8% and 22.5% respectively last year.
The 10 golf destinations considered most important for IAGTO golf tour operators are:
- Spain
- Portugal
- Ireland
- Scotland
- Turkey
- USA
- Thailand
- France
- Morocco
- Italy
