GOLF tourism delivers around £42 million to the Northern Ireland economy.
The delivery of three Irish Opens in the north and the upcoming Open Championship at Royal Portrush has led to a significant growth in the number of golf visitors.
Tourism NI figures have suggested that more than 120,000 golfers visited Northern Ireland in 2017 and spent over £2,000 on average per trip.
Wilma Erskine, manager of Royal Portrush, said the golf market has soared in recent years, particularly visitors from America.
"When I came here in late 1984 we had no visitors here, there was no such thing as USA, the people that came and played here were from the local area or local towns," she said.
"But it's completely changed - we're on the world map, we're in the world ratings so people are coming here, high-end Americans that want to come for an experience.
Read More
- Special transport plans for golf fans travelling to The Open
- Visitors to Portrush will see results of major multi-million pound revamp
- The Open set to give the north coast a potential multi million pound boost
"Our business here would be 75 per cent USA so the typical American, they come in groups of four, eight, sixteen. And it's not just golfers, they have other halves with them.
"They would come in the months of April to October and they would come an average of seven to nine nights so you can imagine when you take that all in.
"The average spend for the average US golfer would be £600 a day which when you take the green fee, caddy, shirt, beverages, hotel and the driver - it adds a lot to the economy."
