"Crazy demand" for golf trips

 

    In November and December, the run on the golf courses in the Canary Islands, Cyprus and southern Turkey is extremely big

The specialists for golf holidays speak of an "enormous" desire to travel. In November, hotspots such as Tenerife or Gran Canaria are practically fully booked and the cost of finding alternatives is increasing.

You can always find a spot on the beach. Many golfers want to combine sun and beach with their favorite sport in winter. Preferably extending the local season in November.

"Demand is very, very high, almost crazy," says Daniel Camenzind from Infiniti-Golf, for example. “So far we have been able to carry out all trips, but the customers have to be much more flexible than before,” he adds. The situation is currently particularly difficult on the popular Canary Islands, according to all the specialists contacted. "Safe weather and a large selection of top courses, but at most we can still find individual start times, usually not necessarily when people want to play," says Roly Petermann, owner of the specialist Green Golf in Lucerne.

Logically, not only Swiss golfers are out and about. “Many northerners or Germans fill the spaces like they did last November. If you want to be in the sun spontaneously, you have to make compromises or go further away.”

Popular greens

Cyprus, as a popular alternative with at least four golf courses, is also “well to very well booked”, is the unanimous opinion. "Recently there were no flights to Cyprus on the dates requested by the customer," explains Petermann. For the travel agency, this primarily means more effort in order to generate a concrete booking from the ongoing inquiries.

"We have to 'juggle' the start times a lot more than we used to," adds Camenzind. Luckily, there are still contingents for hotel rooms at various destinations, after all everything has to fit together for a successful package. For the head of Infiniti Golf, the Algarve and southern Spain are among the alternatives to the highly popular Canary Islands. The selection of golf courses in both regions is enormous. "The weather is certainly not quite as stable in November or December, but the areas around Malaga and Marbella are relatively close."

The destination for hard-core golfers

If you are primarily looking for the safe sun, you can fly to Egypt, for example. “There is surprisingly little demand for this spot,” says Marco Nuzzo, golf specialist at Knecht Reisen. The courses at the hotels are all good, but "many golfers want as much variety as possible in their hobby, so the offer in Egypt is limited," he explains the possible reasons.

Vice versa in Belek. The holiday resort in Turkey has become an international "golf factory" with almost 18 golf courses within a few kilometers. According to Nuzzo, this is not particularly appreciated by Swiss customers. With the clear focus on "all-inclusive" and the corresponding price-performance ratio, Belek is particularly interesting and well booked for hard-core golfers and groups, explains Infiniti boss Camenzind.

"All of our group trips were full, which surprised us positively," adds the golf specialist from Knecht Reisen. "We already had a lot of short-term bookings in the summer, and now we have a lot of inquiries that last into spring," says Nuzzo, pleased about the golfers' desire to travel. "We can hardly keep up with sending all offers to our existing customers in time," says Roly Petermann, since the effort has increased significantly to find something suitable in November or December.