Coming out party for golf in Italy

When the plane skidded to an abrupt halt on the tarmac at Malpensa Airport in Milan, Italy I knew something was seriously wrong. Normally you are elated to arrive at such a historical and exotic locale. However, this was a braking airplane after attempting a routine take-off and that is definitely not ordinary. Such an occurrence was disconcerting to say the least and a first in my flying exploits. It was as though Italy did not want to say arrivederci after we attended the International Golf Travel Market Conference in nearby Lake Como.

The year 2014 was the coming out party for golf in this magnificent country. Constantino Rocca, the Molinari brothers and young Matteo Manassero’s recent success provided signs of a golfing destination on the cusp. One only has to sample fascinating Italian culture, drink in its history, indulge in world famous food and wine to wonder why you wanted to golf too. I know people will be surprised to hear Italy wants to pursue golfing tourists but they insist you dream of hitting a five-iron and I sampled a course (not with pasta in it).

Before the business end of the conference began on the Tuesday, IGTM held its own golf tournament at a group of courses surrounding spectacular Lake Como. The drive from my hotel was a series of twists and turns through the town, over a highway with mesmerizing views of mountains and the lake, through tunnels and into the country where graffiti sporadically stained concrete structures. A practice football pitch for Inter Milan’s Football Club passed on the left and then we travelled through extremely narrow roads where only one vehicle could fit at a time. The languages spoken in the bus were often foreign including a large German contingent. All of us anxiously watched and subsequently admired two times where a car and a bus had to reverse to let us squeeze through to get to the course. We finally made it to the opening gates of La Pinetina Golf Club thirty-five minutes later.

My foursome was truly a United Nations one. It consisted of a pleasant Russian woman named Alla from Alerce, an engaging German woman named Heidi, from Golfreisen & Events, (who I enjoyed speaking with throughout the round since we were walking) and a friendly Englishman named Fred from Virgin Holidays. I felt like a Colonial dropped into a historical match. We were all golf tour operators and I pondered whether such a diverse group would have comprised a golf group thirty years ago. Probably not as Russia would have been the Soviet Union and behind the Iron Curtain and Germany was divided into two parts. A global golf village is indeed upon us.

The course turned into being a nice parkland version. Holes were carved in among trees lining both sides and distances were measured in metres. This is not uncommon to find in certain parts of Europe. I continued to ask Fred’s guidance to convert metric into yards that usually meant hitting an extra club. There were doglegs, straight away shots, bunkers with ample sand protecting landing areas, the occasional pond and greens that putted well. The finishing holes on each nine were uphill and great exclamation points to a well rounded golfing experience. The house where Roy Hodgson, the English national football team’s ex-head coach and ex-coach of Inter Milan when he spent time here was found by Number 14 tee. I took a picture after this sporting tidbit was provided by the Englishman. Our group played very well as a team making the final handshakes even more satisfying. Dinner was enjoyable and the constant drum of clashing accents and languages were neat to listen to and laughter was a constant.

There was certainly a positive vibe at the opening presentation of the trade show. Strong growth in golf travel had occurred in the last two years and 2014 sales sounded promising after going through some trying times during the worldwide recession. There was a record 1500+ participants from 65 countries including: 520 exhibitors, 100 media and 360 golf tour operators. A total of 13,000 pre-arranged meetings were set up which is quite astounding. Trends in golf travel were towards larger groups, repeat business, increased referral business and employment in the industry was climbing. Women golfer numbers were increasing. 52% of the business was driven by global golf tour operators. All are great indicators of a bright future. Even a Chinese chapter of the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) was just launched. Mission Hills, the world’s largest golf club in China featuring twelve 18-hole championship and resort golf courses has become a new destination for golfers. The country will continue to aggressively market this jewel and its other golf product. The resort is gaining rave reviews and claims to be the cradle of golf in China.

Now it was time for Italy to join the growing list of non-traditional golfing countries that wants to join the international fray to cater to golfers. This was its first hosting gig. The country is the No. 10 most important golf destination in the world and they spent a not too paltry 300,000 Euros to host the conference in Lake Como. This is a serious commitment in the land of pizza, Pisa and Vespas. Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Scotland and Turkey top the most popular places for golfers. Canada was not listed in the Top 20 of golfing destinations. I will read off a burgeoning group of countries getting into the game: Slovenia, Bulgaria, Argentina, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic. Tunisia, Cyprus, Greece, Estonia and Azerbaijan (!) were others that raised my eyebrow when I traversed the many exhibition booths at Villa Erba. South Africa was there promoting golf with safaris and I even met with someone from Australia with the nice Oz accent.

Anyone who thinks this conference was going to be an Italian picnic would be very wrong. The days were brilliantly planned to have the maximum amount of 20 minute meetings. Buyers had to traverse the different booths spread out throughout many rooms and wings in the same building. It didn’t help that the automated PA reminders stating that meetings should end were five minutes off during the whole three day event. The business speed dating process propelled you to listen intently, take applicable notes and then move onto the next meeting. Discussions about accommodations could be one meeting, then a switch to transportation offerings and finally listening to why a certain golf region was superior to another. Spain, Portugal, the US, France, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Italy and many more countries were involved. Plenty was packed into each meeting and I believe such face to face meetings lock in a deeper partnership for future business. Nights were all booked so there was no time until exhaustion overtook you. The wine and great food made it rewarding.

As I met and spoke with people at the conference I knew a grand shift had taken place. These are years of change in the golf industry. Canada, the second largest country in the world had zero presence in exhibiting their fantastic golf. This was incredibly surprising since Canada probably has the highest number of golfers per capita in the world with over 5 million playing. This is about twice per capita than the United States. Many countries understand the importance of the Canadian market but some I spoke to are only beginning to find out our deep passion for the game. BC and PEI have won past awards at this same conference. In my conversations with people from around the world the names Highlands Links, Predator Ridge, Cabot Links, Banff Springs, Sagebrush, Royal Colwood, Victoria Golf Club and Whistler were mentioned. There was a certain respect and appreciation when describing these wonderful courses and places to visit. Some even admitted that they would love to live in Western Canada. This is a missed opportunity for our Canadian and provincial tourism boards to attract and gain new international golfing visitors. Other countries understand these visits help to drive additional revenue in areas like accommodations, restaurants, pro shop sales, other tourism activities and wine. Also, golf vacationers tend to spend more money than leisure travellers. So we took it upon ourselves to help spread the word and created a brochure highlighting golfing and non-golfing value in playing Western Canada and Cape Breton. American exhibitors from mainly the south, west and southwest were there in a large way to promote their golfing product to global golf tour operators. Brand USA had a dedicated booth to promote America as a whole. Canada should definitely be in this mix.

I did want to note the fantastic and generously hosted dinner by Tourism Wales at the incredible La Veranda Restaurant at Villa D’Este. We were invited to this function and learned quite a bit about Wales and its fantastic golf courses and proud history. Royal Porthcawl Golf Club is a fantastic links course that recently hosted the Senior British Open to great reviews and there is luxurious Celtic Manor with three championship golf courses. I had not positioned this country in my mind to be one that we should highlight since Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland come first to mind, especially regarding links golf. But with insight from Rob Holt, the genial host who helped to bring the Ryder Cup to Celtic Manor in 2010, we soon came to realize that it is prudent for us to add this destination to our golfing destination stable. Terry Matthews, the Welsh born and now well-known Canadian owner of beautiful Celtic Manor was supposed to have attended but was called away at the last minute. Nevertheless, our engaging conversations with Jill, Vanessa, Rob and others on Team Wales were enjoyable and exchanging thoughts with other golf tour operators from the United States, Germany and Scotland left us with lasting memories. It was an intimate affair with only a small group present. Tourism Wales, like Tourism England and Brand USA put out all stops to capture the attention of global tour operators in this incredibly competitive landscape.

From a global perspective, I believe the golf industry is in for an exciting future. New links course openings like Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs in Canada and minimalist, links-style Gamble Sands and Streamsong Blue and Red in the US are captivating but these places are few in number. We have heard about all the golf course closings in the US however, this is being counterbalanced with growth abroad. Athlone Golf and Sports Travel is excited about offering traditional destinations for those who love links golf and American and Canadian venues that are plentiful.

Golf trips have broadened from the original boys trip to ones that can be enjoyed by couples, singles and women’s groups. Whether it is traditional links golf enjoyed in drizzling rain and wind in Ireland, Scotland or Wales followed by a couple of Guinness or a fine round of parkland golf with a stone wall protecting a green near Venice followed by an incredible meal in the five-star and centuries old Hotel Villa Condulmer we can offer it. Abundance of choice for a golfing experience is now the motto.

Next year it is Tenerife’s turn to promote the Canary Islands to the golfing world. Nice to think about their special offerings. And to answer your question that you are dying to ask—no, I did not see George Clooney.