Bulgaria – an attractive golf tourism destination

published on 4/22/10 1:17 PM

One of the 3 golf courses located along the Northern Black-sea coast near Kavarna

Photo: Архив

As people often say, there is a place and time for everything. When at the start of the 1990s, Masako Oya, a Japanese business lady in love with Bulgaria, decided that Bulgaria was a suitable location for building golf courses, this sounded like a rather exotic idea. Today, however, this idea is far from exotic. In the past ten years, the building of such facilities is experiencing a real boom and golf tourism is said to be one of Bulgaria’s priority markets. In the past, many people in Bulgaria believed that golden beaches, hotels and good food was all it took to keep tourists flooding in. Today, however, tourist experts see that this is not enough and the construction of many yacht ports, aquatic parks and sports centres is currently under way.
A lot has happened in the past years also in the field of golf tourism. More than 28 projects for the building of golf courses have already been approved in Bulgaria. Local authorities initiate most of them because a standard golf course with 18 holes needs a plot of at least 50 hectares, and the required land plot may even reach 100 hectares in case other facilities and holiday villages are attached to the course. Only municipal lands have this capacity. This is also an investment that costs a lot. For example, the construction of the golf course near Ihtiman, 60 km from Sofia, that has the standard 18 holes, cost almost 2 million euro, including all extra facilities: tennis court, swimming pool, horse riding equipment, holiday houses, and all else that is required for an enjoyable holiday.
Bulgaria needs to have at least 10 golf courses possessing international license to turn into a world golf tourism destination. Rumen Todorov, member of the World Association of Golf Journalists and a golf instructor at the International College for Tourism in Dobrich, says:
“We already have these gold courses. Golf is turning into a sport resembling Scottish traditions. In Scotland, golf is national pastime being played for more than 500 years and almost all golf courses are public. The construction of gold courses is growing more and more popular in Bulgaria, especially given the fact that that in six years, golf will be an Olympic discipline at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. We already have 3 golf courses located along the Northern Black-sea coast near Kavarna. There are also golf courses near Razlog and the village of Banya in Southern Bulgaria, near Sofia (Pravets, Ravno Pole), near Sliven in Eastern Bulgaria, and others. Golf courses in Bulgaria are located in the countryside, amidst splendid mountainous and seaside landscapes. These are golf links where international golf competitions could be organized. The phrase “Golf in Bulgaria” does not sound exotic any more. And what is more, Bulgarian golf courses have been designed by world-famous golf players and designers, such as Gary Player, Ian Woosenam, Peter Harradine, Jack Nicklaus to mention just a few. Other golf courses designed by such prominent designers are located at more than 1,500 km from Bulgaria, which is a great advantage to our country”, Rumen Todorov says.
The training of specialized personnel for servicing golf courses is of extreme importance. The International College for Tourism in Dobrich (Northern Bulgaria) has already introduced a subject on golf in its curriculum. A great asset is also the fact that many of its students have played golf at international golf clubs in Ireland, the USA, Great Britain, and the Caribbean islands. They have proved that they can work with customers of the highest rank. For more than 4 years now, they have been studying the world practices in this sport and can apply all they have learned in Bulgaria.

Translated by: Rossitsa Petcova

По публикацията работи: Veneta Nikolova

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Bulgaria – an attractive golf tourism destination

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