golf tourism, gathering more and more
visitors every year; the more golfers who visit,
the more who return the year after... and urge
their friends to go too. This momentum has
been no doubt helped by the problems being
suffered by other markets – but it is mainly a
testament to the ever-increasing appeal of the
Home of Golf in Continental Europe.
It is hard to imagine the success slowing
down, because the Algarve strikes the diffi cult
balance between being a ‘safe’ option while
remaining alluring and fascinating.
You step off your plane at Faro secure in the
knowledge you will have a great golf break.
There is none of the uncertainty that the week
you’ve waited for and saved up for all year
might actually turn into an infuriating disaster.
The Algarve has been welcoming golfers for
more than 50 years; it is the ‘banker’ of golf
breaks, where a certain level of quality is
assumed as well as delivered.
And yet it can still surprise and fascinate on
and off the course. Even if you’ve been
travelling to the Algarve for decades, there are
(probably) still courses you haven’t played,
beaches you haven’t explored and restaurants
you haven’t savoured.
The outstanding year-round climate –
available in return for little more than two
hours spent on a plane – and the accessibility
from Britain are two more huge positives. The
range of hotels, the food, the feeling of
security, and the off-course attractions are
further reasons to make the Algarve your fi rstchoice again for your next golf break.
And despite all these positive aspects, and
contrary to a once-common view, the Algarve
is not expensive. In fact, the Post Offi ce
Holiday Costs Barometer says the Algarve is
the best-value holiday destination throughout
the eurozone for 2017. The destination was
one of 14 beach resorts in the eurozone
surveyed for price checks on meals, drinks
and other holiday essentials, and it came out
on top for British holidaymakers on a budget.
We haven’t covered the golf courses in any
details yet either – but do so in the next fi ve
pages. It was these courses that hosted a
staggering 1.3m rounds in 2016, 50 years on
from Sir Henry Cotton’s Penina opening... can
so many golfers be so wrong?WWW.VISITGOLFALGARVE.COM
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