Spirits high for 2004 golf tourist season

IT’S that time of year again when we shake off the winter cobwebs and our major green fee-taking clubs prepare for an influx of golfing visitors from all over the globe.

In the late 1990s and for much of 2000 and 2001, it was a relatively lucrative business for the golf tour operators, the clubs, the restaurants and the bars. Then came 9/11, foot and mouth, increased costs and a few other factors and suddenly it wasn’t quite the same any more. That’s not to say the bottom fell out of the market, just that the gravy train wasn’t travelling at quite the same pace any longer.

Last night in the plush surroundings of Dromoland Castle in Co Clare, the Irish Golf Tour Operators Association (IGTOA) held their annual banquet and high on the list of priorities was what the 2004 season may hold.