Tenerife is an island with 9 golf clubs. Most of them are really close to each other in the southern part of the island. Despite this fact, we do not hear too much about Tenerife‘s golf offers and experience.
I have just interviewed Carlos Beautell, a former Challenge Tour and European Tour player. He is working on the development and promotion of the Tenerife Golf brand.
What is the contribution of golf tourism to the tourism industry of Tenerife?
Golf is one of the most relevant markets in luxury tourism that visits Tenerife each year. The average golf tourists spend about 45% more than the average tourist that visits the island.
The impact of golf tourists in Tenerife goes beyond golf itself, as these visitors spend also in luxury hotels, high-end restaurants, quality shopping, and luxury rental cars.
Even though golf represents just 2% of the total island’s 6 million visitors per year, golf is a key player in the upper-end tourism niche.
How has the pandemic changed the way of golf destination promotion & the composition of golf tourists?
The pandemic was hard on the island as the island’s economy is mainly based on tourism. The year 2020 was very hard, like for most destinations, but in 2021 we had a small advantage over other golf destinations.
Being an island limited the COVID spread speed and we could reopen our destination for tourism earlier and safer than most other places. The second part of 2021 was quite good actually and we were back to almost regular occupation.
The composition of golf tourists truly changed a bit during the pandemic, which could also be seen as a good thing. We experienced a great increase in tourists from France and the East European countries who could not go to their frequent destinations like North of Africa or Asia, as they were closed due to COVID regulations.
The fact that these tourists have come to Tenerife has given us a great opportunity to showcase our golf destination to visitors that normally would not come to the island. We trust that many of them will repeat a trip to Tenerife in the future.
What do you expect from hosting the World Corporate Golf Challenge?
Hosting the World Corporate Golf Challenge has been a great decision. One of our main strategies is to celebrate world-class events in Tenerife, and the World Corporate Golf Challenge is for sure one of them.
This event will help us showcase the island to golfers worldwide, and the participants are all part of a company that may choose to come to Tenerife for their MICE and Incentive trips. We see this event as more than a golf event.
If we add the celebration of the Legends Cup, which should help us get great media and social media exposure, which is another of our main marketing strategies for the coming years. We want to bring as many influential people to the island as possible.
Celebrating this event will also bring economic returns and business to the local hotels, golf courses, restaurants, and the companies that will participate in this event.
How can Tenerife serve leisure travelers?
Tenerife is mainly a leisure travel destination. The island has one of the best and mildest climates in the world with an average temperature of 23º during the year with maximums of 32º and a lowest of 18º. During the winter Tenerife is probably the busiest holiday destination in Europe.
Visitors can enjoy beautiful natural beaches, some of them with black sand, amazing forests, exquisite wines, and local gastronomy, and the impressive Volcano Teide with 3.718 meters in height from where you can see the rest of the Canary Islands.
Plus you can find interesting historical cities and all kinds of sports on earth and on the sea. Tenerife is a dream for any visitor, for the adventurers and the quieter ones. There is an option for anyone.
Can Tenerife offer unique golf experiences?
Tenerife does offer unique golf experiences to our visitors. In our golf brand, we have 20 golf hotels that speak the golfers’ language and offer special golf services.
All the 9 golf courses offer views of the ocean and a variety of landscapes from the green forests in the north, to the mountains and ocean views in the south, all of them surrounded by volcanic rocks and local flora.
As Tenerife is a leisure destination, any golfer can personalize their trip with visits to wineries for wine tasting, whale and dolphin watching, have a champagne toast during the sunset by the Volcano, or visit one of our 5 Michelin star restaurants on the island.
For those who want to experience a more local scene, the cities of la Laguna or la Orotava offer historical venues and local restaurants called Guachinches, which can be a very extraordinary and different experience.
The Golf Business Monitor is an official media partner of the World Corporate Golf Challenge.