The president of the Algarve Tourism Region welcomed the announcement that the Portugal Masters golf competition will continue to be played at the Oceânico Victoria course in Vilamoura for another three years.
The Masters is the biggest golf tournament held in Portugal, with a prize fund of €2 million and which attracts over 2,000 hours of television coverage around the world.
The competition this year is scheduled for October 09 to 12 and the confirmation that the event is to be held in the Algarve until at least 2016 is a welcome boost for the region’s golf industry.
"Golf is the Algarve’s main tourism product outside the summer season, with more than a million rounds played on 40 golf courses in the region, so this news is excellent for promoting the destination,” commented regional tourism boss Desiderio Silva.
"Despite the increasing loss of big events in the Algarve, it is with great satisfaction that we can continue to rely on the Portugal Masters as a result of various meetings we have had with Turismo de Portugal" said Silva, keen as ever to take the credit.
The Algarve was voted 'European Golf Destination of the Year 2014' by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators and the region’s golf courses do win award after award in international competitions.
Sales are on the increase as in the first half of the year there were 561,000 rounds played, a 6.7% increase over the same period of 2013.
