GolfPlus June 2018 Digital Edition (June 2018) | Page 26

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FROM MY DIARY… JUNE 18
By Brandon de Souza
ith the summer
at its peak, it
usually brings
out the traveller
in us. We tend to
try and escape the
heat by travelling
to cooler climes of the hills and faraway
lands like Europe and America. The fi rst
thing I’m reminded of while pondering
about this time of the year were my annual
trips to the Kashmir valley. Apart from the
stunning natural beauty, playing golf in the
valley, where the wind whispers through
the chinar and pine trees, is always a surreal
experience.
to the established markets.
Los Cabos in Mexico, where the Audi
quattro Cup World Final was held last
year, is one incredible case study in how
golf projects can actually drive tourism
and change the face of a region or country
with the newfound foreign exchange. ‘The
Golden Bear’ Jack Nicklaus bears his
signature to seven courses in the region
which he has seen transform from a sleepy
in Los Cabos. Nicklaus would even remark,
“Depending on your perspective, I am the
man who either ruined Cabo or the man
who helped build Cabo.” Similar stories
have played out in various places around
the world from China and Hong Kong to
Vietnam to Thailand to the Dominican
Republic to Cayman Islands to Nigeria to
Morocco, a vision of golf as an economic
engine is driving the game’s expansion.
Golf tourism is now an emerging trend
actively promoted by quite a few countries
with an attempt to lure in more and more
foreign visitors. This is encouraged by the
spurt of designer golf courses not only in
the developed world but also amongst the
developing countries.
Of the millions who play the game
globally, many have been travelling
exclusively for golf and there would be more
for whom the game is a secondary motivator
while picking a holiday location. The real
estate sector has been roped in to play an
active part and today we see plush golf
resorts opening up all around the world. The
big markets of course are Europe and North
America, which offer a mix of traditional
courses and slick new designer ones to
the consumer with Africa and Asia not far
behind. fi shing village to becoming the number one
international destination for US golfers.
With almost half the number of golf
courses in the US, it leads the popularity
contest but European locations like the
United Kingdom, Spain & Portugal are
also up there. However, evolving markets
like Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa,
China & United Arab Emirates now
offer quality golfi ng experience at a fair
price providing increasing competition Palmilla Golf Club kick started
makeover in 1993 prior to which there would
be only fi ve commercial fl ights per day
into Cabo and the average hotel occupancy
sputtered around 39 percent. Today, the
hotel occupancy has doubled and more than
700,000 golfers from around the world travel
to Mexico every year. In all, two million
passengers annually pass through the airport
36 G o l f P l u s
JUNE
2018
With many new developments seen
in India over the past few decade coupled
with the diversity in climate, terrain and
hospitality, there is no reason why inbound
tourism with golf as the spur can’t fl ourish
like other countries. As much information
as possible about the history and uniqueness
of the game in this country needs to be
shared across the world. We have the unique
advantage of weather permitting year-round
golf.