Mr Broad, ok let's see it another way and call it "long haul golf". The cost of getting your clubs there even if you can get a flight is ridiculous..I met a couple in ZA where BA asked for £250 excess baggage charge! Thomson currently weigh your handbaggage and screw every penny out of you. TAP wanted €80 for a small extra bag recently at LHR. There is also the current BA ban on carry sports equipment..read the press all about it! What they are doing is paving the way to make excessive charges for various items. let's say a minimum costof £50 €75 for clubs....how many golfers will go en masse frm Europe/USA to Brazil for a pecifi golfing holdiay....women or foreigners....answer very few. The mass golfing market is 3/5 days only mainly male..guess 90%. It is not a family or couple concept more than about 10% of the market. Yes people might play golf when there, yes they may hire clubs for a day but this doesn't make Brazil a golf destination at all. And, anyone who thinks that they can rent out their off plan apartment to golfers is deluding themselves. Airlines have such a massive stranglehold on what happens it is unreal....they decide how and if the market performs and when. There is no way I would struggle to Gatwick with my clubs, pay £50 extra for them, then rent buggies and pay maybe £30 per round..it would just not be good value. Small groups may go there but all these golf vacation companies, especially for couple use hotels and not apartments. Just look at golf holidays like green card golf that do exotic golf holidays rarely apartments. So even if the golfers turn up there will be very few renting so this "positive spin" angle is also not viable.
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