Golf in Greece As an Investment Opportunity | Investment Articles

Greece in the current juncture is an attractive choice for investors in targeted sectors and golf is one of the most promising investment opportunities with outstanding potential for growth.

In Greece few years ago people dismiss golf as a rich man?s hobby and a few Greeks played golf. On the other hand the Greek tourism sector that is struggling to keep up against the strong rivals in the Mediterranean mass-tourism outside the Euro-zone area, wants to use golf as a tool to stretch the season beyond the summer months.

Greece depends heavily on tourism but the idyllic islands tend to attract young people on a budget, in contrast to golfing tourists who spend an average of 40 percent more than regular tourists. The long term plan for the sector aims to lure higher spending visitors that can travel to Greece and play golf outside the high holiday season.

Many believe that already Greece is missing out on billions of Euros and this is a lucrative opportunity that can not be missed. Politicians and local bureaucrats that are apparently ignorant of the potential rewards of the investment in golf resorts, zoning laws and the lack of land registry were a few of the reasons that for example the Crete Golf Club took three years to prepare and only 18 months to build and Dolphin will start building its Kilada Hills golf course in late 2011, seven years after the company was formed to move forward with this project.

Things are changing and at least one good thing the country?s financial crisis did, has made the government realize and finally identified tourism infrastructure as a priority and encourages the development of new golf courses throughout the country. In order for Greece to be a golf destination expert studies show that at least 40 golf courses should be built throughout the country and at present time only 7 golf courses operate all year round. Studies have also shown that a region in order to be a golf destination must have at least three golf courses close to where a group of golfers stay.

In Europe almost 7 million people are active golf players and as Greece becomes a year round tourism destination for Northern Europeans, the demand for golf courses will rise dramatically. About 200,000 of the tourists who visit Greece each year are golfers who would be happy to play in the country if a course were available. Today the seven golf clubs that operate in the country cater to roughly 30,000 players and about 1,500 local players, so anyone can understand that the room for growth is significant.

Greece, in contrast to what was previously believed, offers an abundance of locations in spectacular settings for golf development, many with synergies to residential and resort real estate. Also with a well-developed tourism infrastructure throughout the country, cultural attractions, a full range of leisure activities, an ideally suited climate for year round golf, licensing procedures simplified and tax rates attractively set at 25 percent, Greece has all the right ingredients.

Major international names, like Troon Golf and Trophy Golf & Resorts are managing golf courses and designers of golf courses in Greece that include Bob Hunt, Robert Trent Jones III, Bernhard Langer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, are already creating a new golfing destination in Southeast Europe.
It?s proven that investment in golf is both profitable and feasible in Greece from the projects that are already completed and in operation, like the Costa Navarino, named the most important golf development in continental Europe and the Crete Golf Club that cooperates with more than 60 partner hotels, an enviable position for a golf club anywhere.

To conclude judging from the professionals involved in the development of golf in Greece, this is probably the most important precondition for the development of golf which Greece has already met.

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Source: http://investmentarticle.com/golf-in-greece-as-an-investment-opportunity.html

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