From April 27 to 30, the second edition of the Mexico Open at Vidanta took place, where super exciting moments were experienced when the Englishman, Tony Finau, who had been in second place last year, ousted Jon Rahm, taking first place of this PGA Tour tournament. At the same time, 144 international golfers participated in the Vidanta Vallarta competition, which was in the spotlight of the mainstream media.
El Mexico Open es organizado por Grupo Salinas y Grupo Vidanta es el responsable de poseer el naming right y la sede al menos por tres años, hasta 2024. Benjamín Salinas, Vicepresidente del Consejo de Administración de Grupo Salinas, comentó a El Economista que estas primeras tres ediciones en Vallarta ponen sobre la mesa la solicitud de hospedar al PGA Tour por cinco o hasta 10 años más. En términos de derrama económica esto, evidentemente, es una gran noticia para Puerto Vallarta y Riviera Nayarit, pues sólo en la edición de 2022 la derrama estimada fue de 3,000 millones de pesos y la asistencia fue de 25,000 visitantes
It is key to emphasize that the event is not only important during the dates in which it takes place for various reasons. First, the fact that Vidanta has the naming right generates international exposure that will produce a return on investment not only for the Group, but for the entire destination, which categorizes it as a world-class destination.
The second is the importance that golf exerts on tourism. The attraction of this type of tourism allows a greater spending distributed in accommodation services, food and beverages, air transportation and recreational and entertainment services. In addition, it helps to "deseasonalize" tourism, since the tourist who travels to play golf does so for longer stays and usually during spring and autumn.
The third, and perhaps the one that concerns us the most, is that golf is a concept that generates real estate investment, complements the destination in terms of what it can offer and attracts resources. The influence of golf internationally is enormous, especially in the United States, the country from where we receive the largest number of tourists and those looking for a second home. Even more important, in terms of the added value that golf generates, in the real estate business it has been shown that with a good firm, that is, an internationally renowned designer of the golf course, a higher sale price per square meter is achieved. approximately 20-40%, depending on the designer.
These are the reasons why we must, as an industry and as a destination, care for, promote and generate visibility for events such as the Mexico Open at Vidanta, since it is undoubtedly a generator of employment, it is an engine for tourism and it promotes it as one of the high category, brings with it new business opportunities and also adds value to real estate.
