Italy Best Golf is born in view of the Ryder Cup 2023

Golf is one of the most popular sports in the world with 80 million practitioners of which 7 only in Europe and in 2023 it will see Italy at the center of international attention on the occasion of the Ryder Cup expected on the greens of Rome from Friday 29 September to Sunday 1st October 2023. A unique opportunity that will allow Italy to climb the ranking of golf tourism destinations that see the Bel Paese currently in tenth place with 1.8 million arrivals and 3.9 million presences (ENIT data). More than a third of these tourists (1.6 million) travel accompanied. The Ryder Cup that Rome will host in 2023 is the third sporting event in the world by popularity and media coverage after the World Cup and the Olympics. According to the Italian Golf Federation, this event will bring in the Italian coffers, only in tax revenues, 157 million euros, and the forecast for television rights and sponsorships is 56 million euros. In France, the Ryder Cup brought visitors from 90 countries for a total of 220 thousand overnight stays and an economic movement of 235.7 million euros (year 2018). For this purpose, Italy Best Golf was born, the platform that allows golf tourists from all over the world. world to organize their golf holiday in Italy in a dynamic way, representing a complete offer that will remain over the years to satisfy this tourist segment destined to grow after 2023. The golf clubs and tourism companies in the sector can now intercept new and precious tourist flows, with an economic induced that should not be underestimated and a very wide geographical and seasonal diffusion. At the same time, tourists can finally plan and book everything in a single operation, selecting the real-time availability of green fees, hotels, experiences and territorial tourist services, and making a single payment. “The world of golf is offering a great opportunity for Italian tourism – says Paolo Garlando, general manager Italy Best Golf and expert in Hospitality & Sport Travel Marketing – with the arrival of the Ryder Cup in Rome. The visibility of Italy towards the millions of golfing tourists from all over the world is growing month by month and we must be ready to intercept these flows. Italy Best Golf is part of this context, a transversal network with which to create a system through digital “. Furthermore, the Italy Best Golf platform allows B2B access to tour operators who want to create golf vacation packages or sell them to their customers. For all hotels it is possible to access the B2B reserved area and directly make green fee reservations for their customers or create hotel + golf courses packages. “According to Italy Best Golf projections – continues Paolo Garlando – considering that in Italy every 65 million foreign tourists arrive in Italy and no less than 5% of these play golf, traveling accompanied in 1.6% of cases, with an average cost, excluding travel, of 800 euros per person, we could reach 1 one billion more tourist turnover in the post Ryder Cup, if we manage to create a system with a complete offer “. The countries of origin of golfing tourists in Italy are, in order: Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Austria, France, Sweden, Denmark, USA, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Ireland, England, Belgium. The players are mostly men (68%) and women (25%) with a not inconsiderable presence of children (7%). They sleep in hotels in 64% of cases, in resorts (23%) in farmhouses (5.1%). Hotel accommodation has a strong weight for this tourism, in fact in 52.4% of cases there are hotel agreements and in 33.6% of cases hotel resorts and residences are chosen within the circles. Italy has 385 national Golf Clubs and 104 Golf Clubs defined by the FIG (Italian Golf Federation) with a tourist vocation. According to projections, the world market, which was worth 23 billion dollars by 2020, would have exceeded 44 billion dollars in 2021. It should not be forgotten that golf is in fifth place among the sports marketed through international tourism intermediation and passes through the ” brokerage in 14.4% of cases. Participants in the conference: Valentina Vezzali, undersecretary of state at the PCM; Giorgio Palmucci, advisor to the Minister of Tourism; Ivana Jelinic, president of Fiavet Franco Chimenti, president of the Italian Golf Federation; Gian Paolo Montali, general manager Ryder Cup Golf 2022; Paolo Garlando, general manager Italy Best Golf Paolo; Giuntarelli, professor at the University of Tor Vergata; Alessandro Onorato, Councilor for Major Sport and Tourism Events of the Municipality of Rome; Mariano Angelucci, president of the Rome Capital Tourism Commission; Giuliano Bagnoli, president of the Golfimpresa Consortium; Filippo Barbè, President of the PGAI; Tommaso Tanzilli, director of Federalberghi Rome and Lazio. The journalist Massimo Caputi moderates.