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Alicante is swinging for a new market: Canada’s 600,000 golfers who can’t get a round in during their long, cold winters. A delegation from the Costa Blanca and Valencian Community Golf Courses Association, along with the Costa Blanca Tourist Board, heads off this Wednesday to the Toronto Golf & Travel Show, running Thursday January 30 to Saturday February 1. It’s their first time at the event, and they’re keen to convince Canadian players that the region’s 30 courses are the perfect winter escape.

 

“What we aim for now is for golf to serve as a spearhead to support that connection,” says José Mancebo, director of the Tourist Board. Alicante has 20 courses, with seven more in Valencia and three in Castellón. Players can enjoy them from October to May, exactly when Canadian fairways are under snow.

 

The timing couldn’t be better. Canadian golfers have been flocking to Portugal’s courses lately, put off by tensions between their government and the Trump administration in the US. Ángel Llopes, secretary general of the golf association, sees Alicante as the ideal alternative. “We attended the Toronto event for the first time with the intention of conducting a preliminary study, to explore possibilities for bringing golf enthusiasts here,” he explains. They’ve already lined up meetings with Canadian tour operator Level 21, who are bringing a group to the Iberian Peninsula in May.

 

Golf is big business here too. It brings 325,000 tourists a year to the Valencian Community, generates 510,000 overnight stays and has an economic impact of €918 million while supporting over 10,000 jobs. No wonder it’s such a great way to smooth out the tourism peaks and troughs.

 

The Toronto trip builds on recent momentum. Just last week at Fitur in Madrid, the association ran a putting contest in Plaza de Callao, giving winners hotel stays and green fees. They’re also pushing for more direct flights beyond Air Transat’s seasonal Montreal to Valencia route. For now, most North Americans arrive via Madrid or Barcelona, but Mancebo says the results will be “medium- to long-term.”

 

It’s exciting to see Alicante positioning itself as Europe’s go-to golf destination. Who wouldn’t swap snow boots for spikes and a sunny round of 18 holes on the Costa Blanca?

 

 

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