Italy and Rome are ready to host the next international event of the Igtm in 2022 and in view of the Ryder Cup 2023. Enit, the Italian Agency for Tourism, for Italy has strongly supported, in synergy with the Italian Golf Federation, Lazio Region and Convention Bureau Rome and Lazio and Fiera di Roma, the landing in the country of the most important event for the promotion of golf tourism at international level scheduled this year at Celtic Manor Resort in Newport (Wales, UK) where the National Tourism Agency has put in contact 180 buyers with hundreds of sellers and local authorities.

According to the statistics of the European Golf Association (EGA), there are about 1,400 golf facilities in the European Mediterranean countries, of which 170 are located on the coast, 73 in Spain, 33 in Portugal, 25 in Italy, 19 in France, 12 in Turkey. In Italy there are 90,229 golfers in the 386 golf courses (of which 140 have at least 18 holes). 104 Golf Clubs are defined by FIG (Italian Golf Federation) as having a tourist vocation.

Golf is in 5th place among the sports sold on the international tourism intermediation markets towards Italy (14.4%) after cycling (36.1%), skiing (25.8%), trekking (24.7%) and soccer.

There are 1.8 million presences linked to golf tourism, (3.9 million presences considering those who stayed in Italy for other reasons but practiced golf during their vacation). For sports vacations in Italy, foreigners spend more between February and April, 35.3% of the total. Total spending peaks in the summer months: about 38.0% between July and September.

Those taking part in outdoor tourism are primarily men (45% of the total among male respondents compared with 40% of the total among women), included in the 35-64 age bracket (53%) and, to a fairly uniform degree, among residents of the various Italian regions, residing in medium-large centers.

In the survey of Italians' vacations (carried out by ENIT between August 24 and 30) through around 4 thousand interviews with the population, the 2020 vacation sought post-lock-down saw the desire for the sea prevail (60%). Italian vacationers are looking for other experiences from their vacation, including those linked to sports activities (6%) or cycle tourism (1%).

"Pandemic has revolutionized the way of thinking of the tourist who is looking for experiences linked to territorial living and deep experiences in contact with nature. Having Igtm in Italy and in Rome is an unmissable opportunity. Golf tourism is a competitive sector that contributes to the positioning of Italy in the international tourism scenario. The event has already shown that it contributes to increasing the tourist GDP of the host countries. It is destined to grow by 5.36 billion dollars in the period 2020-2024, post COVID-19" says Enit President Giorgio Palmucci.