Puerto Rico on Course for Golf Tourism Boom

With the approach of PGA Tour event, the Puerto Rico Open, the Caribbean island's tourist office is hoping to double golf visitor numbers through a campaign in key markets around the world.

The island's annual professional golf tournament takes place March 6-9 and is sponsored by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC).

Gabriel Emanuelli, global sales director for the PRTC, said: "More than 23,000 golfers came to Puerto Rico in 2013 to enjoy our wide variety of excellent courses - and we have the capacity to double that number, which is now our goal."

He added: "We have the equivalent of 15 18-hole courses at 10 golf clubs and golf resorts that welcome golf visitors, which includes seven golf resorts with golf on site."

The PRTC has invited a group of IAGTO tour operators to the country for next month's US$3.5 million Puerto Rico Open at Trump international Golf Club, which sits at the heart of a cluster of six courses all within about 20 minutes from hotels in the Rio Mar resort on the north-east coast.

IGTO is the global trade organization of the golf tourism industry. San Juan's international airport enjoys direct flights from key golfing markets, and claims the most competitive airfares for golfers originating out of the US compared with any other island in the Caribbean.