San Sebastián hosted the 3rd Turespaña Convention (Spanish Tourism Institute) from October 23rd to 25th, with the collaboration of the San Sebastián City Council's Tourism Board, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, and Basquetour (Basque Tourism Agency). This year's central theme focused on the pursuit of sustainable tourism management from a triple perspective—environmental, social, and economic—a highly relevant topic today.
And precisely because golf is an example of triple sustainability: economic, social and environmental, its relevance has been highlighted in one of the round tables held under the title of 'Communication of Environmental Sustainability', in which Carlos Abella, general secretary of the Tourism Board, an organization to which the Spanish Association of Golf Courses (AECG) belongs, participated.
During her speech, Abella reflected on sustainability, a relatively recent term but one that has been applied in many sectors for many years. She highlighted that "golf is one of the best examples of sustainability, as it is a sector that has been using reclaimed water (waste water that, if not used, is discharged into the sea) for over 30 years, adapting turfgrass varieties that consume less water, and conducting research and development to reduce water consumption, among other things." She also emphasized that "currently, around 701% of golf courses in Spain are irrigated with reclaimed water, and the 301% of courses that are not are mostly due to a lack of access to water infrastructure, a reality that requires public investment.".
On the other hand, within the framework of this III Turespaña Convention, representatives of the Spanish Association of Golf Courses (AECG) and the Royal Spanish Golf Federation (RFEG) have held various meetings with different tourism stakeholders to present the positive economic and tourism data for the sector. Spain is a leader in golf tourism, attracting 1.2 million tourists each year who visit our country primarily to play the sport, with significant figures that benefit other sectors: for example, for every 8 euros spent by a golf tourist, 7 euros are reinvested in other sectors (shopping, restaurants, hotels, leisure, etc.), making golf a catalyst for the Spanish economy.
In this regard, thanks to the fact that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Sport recognizes the tourist nature of golf, the project 'Digital Green Spain: Digital transformation and local integration of the golf experience in Spain' has been launched, financed with European Next Generation Funds, within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
SOURCE: Spanish Association of Golf Courses.
