Algarve awarded Europe’s best Golf Destination title for 2014
Algarve has received the latest in a large number of awards, having been voted to be Europe’s Best Golf Destination for the year 2014, beating out challenges from several other illustrious destinations from around the continent.
The awards show was staged in Tarragona in Catalonia, Spain and were voted by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators or IAGTO, whose specialist golf tour operator members now number 516 from 62 countries.
The criteria by which the participants were marked included customer satisfaction; quality of golf courses and accommodation, value for money, support from suppliers, tourism boards & airlines, professional conduct of suppliers as well as the accessibility to tee times.
The IAGTO awards are considered to be the highest accolade that a golfing destination can receive with the Algarve managing to beat other nominees with a real history with the sport such as Dublin and Central Ireland, Gran Canary, even the Scottish Highlands – where the sport was invented, the French Riviera as well as Lisbon’s Golf Coast.
The President of the Algarve Tourism Board – Desiderio Silva, a rather prominent figure in at least some of our articles – said after the awards that golf tourism is of the utmost importance to the region. The nearly forty golf courses in the Algarve add up to about one million rounds played each year, thus making the Algarve an ideal spot for golfing enthusiasts to indulge in their favorite pass-time.
Peter Walton – IAGTO’s Chief Executive – added that the annual golf holiday is a highlight of the golfing year for many of the world’s almost 55 million players, so the IAGTO Awards serve should be seen as a reward for the exceptional contributions to the world of golf travel.
The entire country is also nominated in the category of Best European Gofl Destination at this year’s World travel Awards, with the winners to be announced at the end of the month.
