18/04/2013 00:00
TW
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By Humphrey Carter

PALMA
BALEARIC captains of industry maintain that no one should be more than 50 minutes away from a golf course in the Balearics and that in order to provide such a luxury, eight more courses need to be built.

The head of the Balearic Business Confederation (CAEB), Josep Oliver, said yesterday that research and studies commissioned by CAEB have concluded that the region needs at least eight new golf courses; between three and five in Majorca, two in Minorca and one on Ibiza.

The CAEB's new line is not going to be welcomed by the green lobby but Oliver maintains that if the local tourist industry is seriously going to be diversified and the season lengthened, golf is the answer. “It's an extremely popular sport played throughout the year and attracts high spending visitors to the island. Its potential has surely got to be maximised,” Oliver said as he emerged from talks with the Balearic Minister for Tourism, Miguel Nadal, yesterday morning in Palma.