The Costa Brava raises its international profile with the holding of the 2009 Men's Spanish Open Golf Tournament

Date: 27-04-2009

• The Costa Brava becomes the golf epicentre with the organisation of the 2009 Men's Spanish Open Tournament played at the PGA Golf Catalunya course in Caldes de Malavella over four days.

• The Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona is organising several promotional actions (press trip and familiarisation trip) and commercial actions (trade fair and workshop) while the golf tournament is being held. These actions are aimed at publicising the destination and raising the profile of the Costa Brava in its Centenary year.

• Enric Vilert, President of the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona states that “the tournament offers us a wonderful opportunity to position the golf product and the Costa Brava destination internationally, while raising the profile of the brand and the quality of the tourism offer of our area”.

Monday, 27th April 2009
From 30th April to 3rd May 2009, the Costa Brava hosts the 84th Men's Spanish Open, one of the Professional European Circuit tournaments, at the PGA Golf de Catalunya course in Caldes de Malavella. More than 150 professional players from the international European circuit will take part with the presence of specialised sports journalists, businesspeople from the sector and the general public.

The Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona has given its full support to the holding of the Spanish Open on the Costa Brava and has provided 100,000 euros in sponsorship money.
As part of the Fitur 2009, on 29th January a sponsorship agreement for the 2009 Spanish Open was signed between the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona and Turisme de Catalunya promotional bodies and the Royal Spanish Golf Federation.


Promotion and sale of the golf product on the Costa Brava and in the Pirineu de Girona
While the 2009 Spanish Open is being held, institutional bodies including the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona, Turisme de Catalunya, sponsors, golf courses and golf equipment companies can be found in the club's leisure and sales area where they will be informing professional players, spectators and the press of their sales and promotional activity.
The Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona, together with its Costa Brava Pirineu de Girona Golf Marketing Club, is sharing a 100m2 space with Turisme de Catalunya in the village zone of the PGA Golf Catalunya course where it is providing merchandising and promotional material on golf and the tourism offer of the destination.

Furthermore, the Patronat de Turisme and Turisme de Catalunya are organising two promotional actions for the press and for tour operators from Scandinavia and the United Kingdom with the aim of publicising the tourism offer of the destination in terms of its golf product.
The British journalists covering the Spanish Open, invited by the Patronat de Turisme, Turisme de Catalunya and Turespaña, will make the most of their stay in the area by discovering several tourism areas and facilities of the destination. Journalists from media outlets including Bunkered Golf Magazine, The Daily Mail, The Sunday Mirror, Golf Monthly, The Financial Times, Svensk Golf and the BBC will carry out complementary activities in addition to the tournament.
As regards the actions aimed at distribution channels, 18 tour operators are visiting the Costa Brava from 27th to 30th April in a familiarisation trip to get to know the infrastructures, facilities and tourism services of the destination. The Scandinavian sector is represented by the wholesale agencies Golf Resan, Sabratours or Krone Golf Tours, while British agents include Longmere Golf Holiday and Yourgolftravel, amongst others.

Meanwhile, the Patronat de Turisme is also organising a workshop together with Turisme de Catalunya at the Torremirona Golf Club in Navata on Tuesday 28th April, where businesspeople from the Catalan golf sector will meet the 18 invited wholesale agents. The aim of these work meetings between professionals from the sector is to boost the travel agents' interest in the complementary offer of the Girona area, to exchange information and to create business opportunities.



The action plan of the Costa Brava and Pirineu de Girona Golf Marketing Club
The Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona, through its Golf Marketing Club, made up of 48 members from the Girona area, including 10 golf clubs and courses, 1 pitch & putt course, several tourism accommodation companies, transport companies and travel agencies, etc. is carrying out a wide-ranging programme of promotional and commercial actions geared towards the main golf tourism issuing markets for the Costa Brava Pirineu de Girona destination. Golf tourists and professionals from Scandinavia and other countries including England, France, Germany and the USA have become the target market segments for the scheduled actions of the Patronat in the 2009 financial year. These actions include attendance at four specialised tourism fairs, the organisation of some twenty press and familiarisation trips, three workshops and the holding of a golf tournament, amongst other things.
The twelve golf courses and clubs of the counties of Girona, together with the ten pitch and putt courses of the area, see the tournament held at the PGA Golf Catalunya course as a good opportunity to promote golf in the Costa Brava - Pirineu de Girona destination as a whole.

 

back