Riding Golf, Mauritius Tourism Reaches Dizzy Heights

Bel Ombre (Mauritius), Dec 8 (PTI) Europe was freezing when some of the continent's ace golfers and their avid followers found warmth at an avant-garde course in sun-kissed Mauritius.

Barely a few hundred metres from the course, some of them lay by the pool, took long walks on the beach, took the sound of jazz that wafted through the gentle breeze.

And then, back in the course, some of them turned on the heat in the 5th AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.

The tri-sanctioned European, Asian and Sunshine tours' Euro 1 million prize money event has become quite a hit with visiting players and guests alike.

The tournament gains immensely from the major role that golf has been playing in the evolution of Mauritius' tourism industry in recent years.

The lush green courses with all the modern infrastructure and an unmatched hospitality tremendously add to the Indian Ocean island nation, one of the few blueprints for heaven on earth.

It is not for nothing that Mark Twain once famously said 'Mauritius was made first and then heaven; and heaven was copied after Mauritius'.

Add golf to the transparent and translucent waters, the lagoons, reefs, the jagged mountains and wildlife, and it becomes a heady concoction.

It all began with the formation of the Mauritius Golf Tourism Association in 2009, and by 2011, MGTA started to officially work alongside the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA).

The Mauritius tourism department helped MGTA in putting in place a structure initially.

They saw into the future and one of the key person in all of this is Michael Geerdharry, a founder member of MGTA.

"We understood the potential golf of golf and wanted to keep it at the forefront.

"It is proven that golfers like to spend 20 to 25 percent more than normal travellers," said Geerdharry.

The holding VLS group that owns the Heritage Le Telfair and Heritage Awali hotels and resorts is building another golf course in the mountain and work is on in earnest. Needless to say, the view from uphill is stunning, with the course facing the Indian Ocean.

VLS has also bought the Tamarina Resorts and will soon be offering golf travellers multiple options in terms of courses in one estate.

"The number of tourists coming into Mauritius annually is pegged at 1.2 million, out of which sixty thousand are golfers.

"People come from Europe around this time of the year, which is the peak season, and from May to September, out low season, the Asians come. We are trying to increase the numbers in low season.

"Another course is being built and in charge of that is renowned golf course architect Peter Matkovich. The aim is to be among the top 100 golf courses in the world," he added.

The existing Heritage Golf Club is a multiple-time award winner and is considered the best in the Indian Ocean region.

Matkovich is the architect of the Heritage Golf Club, situated within the Domaine de Bel Ombre estate on the southwest coast of Mauritius.

Seasoned Indian golfer Jyoti Randhawa, who has the experience of playing in innumerable courses across the world, termed it one of the best.

"It's right up here. Everything is fantastic here, right from their hospitality to the course," Randhawa said.

Also bowled over by the whole experience was Kolkata-based pro SSP Chawrasia.

They have almost achieved their aim of making Mauritius known as one of the world's top golf destinations and with people like Geerdharry and Matkovich at the helm of affairs, things could only get better.

"Mauritius is definitely the golf destination of the world," the validation came from Randhawa.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)