Spain has officially declared the Solheim Cup 2023 to be of Exceptional Public Interest. It is the first women’s golf event to be given the designation, which gives an idea of the tournament’s importance. In the initial study undertaken as part of Spain’s bid for the event, hosting the Solheim Cup was judged to be directly worth more than 235 million euros for the local economy, generating a significant amount of employment in the area.
With this in mind, local institutions and public bodies agreed to join forces and take the project forward. Among those public bodies involved was Turismo y Planificación Costa del Sol.
Women’s golf has clearly gained a higher profile recently, with the economic and media impact of women’s tournaments increasing every year. In fact, this media impact for the Costa del Sol destination is estimated to be around 25 million Euros. In addition to its undeniable sporting appeal, the Solheim Cup is the ideal platform for attracting visitors from America and Asia, markets where the Costa del Sol still has room to grow.
With more than 70 courses, the Costa del Sol’s golf offer is unbeatable and has become the continental European destination with the highest concentration of golf courses. Thus, the province of Malaga has the most courses in the whole country, and the third highest number of golf licences, after Madrid and Barcelona, representing 6.7% of the total.
The strength of the Costa del Sol bid proved irresistible to the LET. Five years hosting the Open de España, sponsorship of the LET order of merit (Race to Costa del Sol) for four years and the Solheim Cup. The news of the award of the Solheim finally broke on 13 October 2020. The Solheim Cup would be coming to the Costa del Sol at last.
Spain will be hosting the Solheim Cup for the first time in 2023. This will join the long list of major sporting events that have been held on national soil, including the 1982 World Cup, 1986 Basketball World Cup, 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the Ryder Cup in 1997 and the America’s Cup in 2007 and 2010. Once again, Spain, Andalucía and the Costa del Sol will be able to demonstrate what they can do, making it clear just how suited they are to hosting elite sporting competitions.
Overall, the project has been a joint effort by all involved, and the organisers, sponsors, public bodies, courses and the entire Spanish golf industry in general, have built up an unstoppable momentum heading into the biggest women’s golf event, the Solheim Cup 2023.