Tourism is moving away from sea-and-sun mass markets to specialised niches. With a rising number of moneyed retirees planning to move from northern Europe to warmer climes and escape urban stress for a more peaceful green environment, golf is emerging as an interesting new focus for southeastern Europe after the recession.

It’s a familiar scene each year in August – Santorini’s caldera-view cocktail bars are jam packed, all the sun beds on Mykonos’ Psarou beach have been reserved in advance, Hvar’s boutique hotels are fully booked, and suntanned guests are queuing for tables outside restaurants in Dubrovnik’s old town.

But for established southeast European destinations, the main challenge today is extending the season beyond the traditional peak period. While      they’re inundated with visitors through July and August and relatively busy in June and September, what every professional wants is a clientele that turns up in May and October, and if possible even in April and November.

And this is one of the beauties of golf - it can be played the year round, with many enthusiasts actually preferring spring and autumn to the full summer heat. Not only that, but golf attracts the sort of higher-income guests that every country wants.

Carlton Carugati, General Manager of the London-based International Association of Golf Tour Operators (www.iagto.com) says:   “Golf tourists spend on average 33% more per day whilst on holiday, so for resorts they are much higher spenders than your normal holiday maker”. He continues:  “In terms of social groupings, golf tourists are 54% AB (managerial and professional); 31% C1 (supervisory and clerical); 10% C2 (skilled manual); 3% DE (unskilled manual and unemployed) and 2% other”. And as 40% of golfers are aged 55+, many are retirees, who are free to travel outside the standard holiday periods.

CROATIA LEADS THE PACK

Eager to extend the tourist season and increase its share of moneyed visitors, Croatia has a master plan to build several world-class golf courses. Romana Terzić, Junior Adviser, Study Trips & Public Relations Department, of the Croatian National Tourist Board (www.croatia.hr) reports:  “According to the strategic program of golf development in Croatia, more than 35 locations are assigned for golf course construction. Most of them are on the Adriatic coast, which has exceptional climate conditions favourable for golf”.

Construction work on the largest development, the Golf Park Dubrovnik on the Srđ plateau, above the medieval walled city of Dubrovnik, could begin as early as February 2011. Proposed by Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur, Greg Norman (Greg Norman Golf Course Design, www.gngcd.com) and the Zagreb company Razvoj golf (www.razvoj-golf.hr), the project is worth 6.5 billion HRK (892 million euros). Besides two golf courses -- one 18-hole and one 6-hole, as well as a golf academy, to be lead by Greg Norman himself -- it will combine an equestrian club and wellness centre, plus hotels, villas, suites and restaurants.

GREECE GETS GOLF RESORT

South of Croatia, Greece, for four decades a land of summer beach holidays, has only six golf courses (see Hellenic Golf Federation www.hgf.gr). But that is set to change, with the spring-2010 opening of the country’s first mixed-use resort, Costa Navarino (www.costanavarino.com) in Messinia, southwest Peloponnese. Founded by the Constantakopoulos family, who hail from the region and are owners of Costamare Shipping, this colossal up-market resort is headed by Temes SA (www.temes.gr) and will eventually feature 11 hotels, seven golf courses, extensive spa and conference facilities, and a marina.

If all goes to plan, May 2010 will see the inauguration of Costa Navarino’s 18-hole Dunes Course, designed by Bernhard Langer and managed by Troon Golf (www.troongolf.com) the world's leading golf management company. At the same time, two 5-star hotels overlooking the course will begin operating: the Westin Navarino Dunes Resort (www.westincostanavarino.com) with 322 rooms and 123 suites with private infinity pools; and the Romanos Navarino Dunes Resort (www.romanoscostanavarino.com) with 289 rooms and 32 suites with private infinity pools. Then, in 2012, the 18-hole Bay Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr, and the luxurious 5-star Banyan Tree Costa Navarino (www.banyantree.com) are scheduled to open.

Harry Zervos, Director of Golf at Costa Navarino’s Dunes Course for Troon Golf, says:  “Golf is important for the Greek tourism, because it opens new horizons in the tourism industry by offering year-round facilities. The first two designer golf courses in Greece, the Dunes Course and the Bay Course, will offer golf at its best with a Greek touch. Both courses are overlooking the Ionian Sea, offer great views and are surrounded by beautiful landscape”. Rachel Williamson, Vice President of International Marketing for Troon Golf adds, “The course will help Costa Navarino attract golfers from all over Europe, particularly Germany, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, who typically travel to resort destinations to enjoy both the game and a quality resort”.

CYPRUS, TURKEY TO FOLLOW

Also in southeast Europe, Palmerston Elea Golf & Spa Resort (www.palmerstonhotels.com) in Paphos, Cyprus, is a resort village and spa, with 200 luxury villas and an 18-hole golf course designed by Nick Faldo, due to open in 2010. Owned by Palmerston Hotels & Resorts, which will have 20 fully-integrated 5-star resorts in operation or under development by 2011, Elea will be Palmerston’s first project in the Balkans, which should be followed by a second development in Izmir, Turkey.

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