israel Sweet 16

Is Israel about to become a golf destination?

Today the nation has just one golf course, an 18-hole track in Caesarea that was recently redesigned by Pete Dye. But the number is expected to increase, as Israel’s tourism ministry has budgeted $200 million to build 16 “international-caliber” golf courses over the next 15 years.

Late last year, tourism minister Stas Misezhnikov told Israeli news sources that the courses will attract “tens of thousands of golf tourists” and help his nation “compete with other countries in the region,” notably Egypt and Jordan. The ministry is working with Israel Land Administration, which will, over the next few months, identify three to five potential sites.

The partners will be looking at property in five areas, among them Tiberias, which is along the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel; Hadera, which is east of Haifa in northern Israel; and Eilat, the nation’s southernmost city, which is already a tourist destination even though its summer temperatures routinely crack 100 degrees.

The partners expect to have a development plan for the first two courses by the end of this year.

Incidentally, last year Israel attracted 2.3 million visitors, the same number it got in 1999. The ministry hopes the golf courses will help to boost the number to 4 million by 2012 and to 6.5 million by 2020.