The event will bring together the best professional players over 50 years
Benidorm will become the European capital of golf in November with the Costa Blanca Senior Masters
The Diputación wants the event to remain in the city for the next three years due to its deseasonalizing potential, its economic impact and its impact on the British market
Benidorm will be the capital of golf at the end of November when it hosts the Costa Blanca Senior Master Benidorm Golf, an international event included in the 2018 Staysure Tour Calendar - European Senior Circuit - which returns to Spain after years without making a stop in the national territory. The competition will bring together 54 professional golfers of over 50 years of at least 14 nationalities and will be held at Meliá Villaitana Golf Club.
This Costa Blanca Senior Master Benidorm, which will be held between November 26 and December 1, was presented today at Meliá Villaitana hotel. A presentation attended by the mayor, Toni Pérez; the president of the Provincial Council of Alicante, César Sánchez; the regional Secretary of Tourism, Francesc Colomer; the president of the Valencian Golf Federation, Andrés Andrés Torrubia; the golfer Miguel Ángel Jiménez; the general secretary of Hosbec, Núria Montes; Ángel Gallardo, ambassador of the European Tour; and Ángel Durá, director of Meliá Villaitana Golf Resort.
The mayor meant that this Costa Blanca Senior Master Benidorm Golf is an event "of the highest level" that has in the city "its epicenter" and that connects with the "special interest that our destination has in sports tourism".
The President of the Provincial Council, for his part, highlighted the importance of this project for its capacity "to generate employment", its potential to "deseasonalize" tourism, its economic impact and its impact on the British market in full Brexit. In this regard, he reported that according to the study carried out by the Tourist Board of the Costa Blanca along with the Chamber of Commerce, golf generates "almost 10,000 jobs directly" and "more than 440 million euros of return "in the province. In addition, the golf client "spends between 30% and 40% more than the conventional tourist".
Sánchez stressed that "few places in the world have the golf courses we have in Alicante with almost 300 days a year of sun", which is a factor in favor of the province compared to other competitors; and added that the intention of the council is that the test "is in the province and in Benidorm for the next three years."
For its part, the regional secretary of Tourism said that it is "a satisfaction" that Benidorm becomes "the golf capital", and praised the city's ability "to seduce all year round" and "to transcend based on products and generate diversity. "
The president of the Valencian Golf Federation indicated that this sporting event contributes to "give, if possible, more importance to Benidorm", and has stressed that "it is a nod to Brexit, since the majority players are British."
The golfer Miguel Ángel Jiménez underlined "the importance of having a golf tournament of this level" in Spain, from the sporting, tourism, economic and promotional point of view.
