Golfers flock to Abu Dhabi

New figures show a 94.5% increase from 2011 in the number of overseas rounds played at Abu Dhabi's top trio of golf courses.

The Abu Dhabi Golf Club, currently playing host to the HSBC Golf Championship, is just one of the major resorts that has seen a boom in visiting golfers in the last year.

Other major courses in the emirate include the Saadiyat Beach Club, designed by golf legend Gary Player, and the Yas Links, the first course of its kind in the Middle East region.

The new figures were released by the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) and they suggest that the surge in booking is partly down to ‘Golf in Abu Dhabi' - an umbrella marketing, communications, product packaging and distribution platform implemented to increase the emirate's resonance in the golfing world.

The Events Manager at TCA Abu Dhabi said: "Our golf tourism sector is not simply growing. It is positively thriving. With Golf in Abu Dhabi streamlining the entire booking process, the destination's appeal to the international golf tourism sector has also been considerably strengthened by recent openings of luxury accommodation on the fringes of our diverse course offerings."

The pulling-power of the initiative will no doubt profit at the news that Matteo Manassero has signed a three-year extension to his global golf ambassador role.

Manassero was the first teenager in history to register three PGA European tour wins.

Whilst discussing his new role, he said: "Signing the extension was easy for me because Abu Dhabi has become my second home."

Abu Dhabi was declared ‘Golf Destination of the Year Africa & Gulf States' in 2012 after beating off competition from nine international contenders.

For more information, or to place bookings, visit www.golfinabudhabi.com or email info@abudhabi.com