The PGA Grand Slam of Golf may be the jewel in the Island’s golf crown, but it is the average player that tourism bosses want to attract to Bermuda in ever increasing numbers.

Bill Hanbury, the CEO of Bermuda Tourism Authority, has called the sport a ‘key element’ in the future of the industry with golfers seen as a way of filling hotel rooms during the off-season.

The appointment of Andrew Brooks as the director of golf sales and marketing, meanwhile, points to the importance being placed on attracting a largely affluent group of tourists.

“We have identified golf as a key element of our business going forward,” Mr Hanbury said. “Golf business is a niche that will help us fill are rooms in the shoulder and winter months which is another significant objective of the BTA, so golf is important.”

Mr Brooks, the former director of golf at Port Royal Golf Course, has been tasked with making changes in the golf structure in Bermuda, while also selling an Island that has more golf courses over its 22-square miles than any other, to customers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

“Bermuda has invested a huge amount in the physical infrastructure of its golf facilities and they are excellent courses,” Mr Hanbury said. “Our golf sales person [Brooks] is already working very hard to bring all the elements of Bermuda golf together, all the courses, the hotels and any other related facilities and experiences.

“This is a highly competitive area of tourism and if we are going to succeed, we must be coordinated, working together and delivering a consistent, shared message. We are making real progress in this regard.”

While golfers from the United States and Canada have been coming to Bermuda in large numbers for decades, drawn by the Gosling’s Invitational and the Goodwill Tournament, those in the United Kingdom represent a largely untapped market.

As a tourism tool, next month’s Hackers Cup, which has been running since 2011, is designed to market the Island in the UK. Whether it is a sensible use of resources depends on who you talk to about an event that brings British celebrities and journalists to Bermuda for a week’s golf and relaxation.

Mr Hanbury has no doubt about the benefits outweighing the cost. Last year’s event generated articles in publications such as The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, and several golf magazines, which equated to roughly $250,000 worth of advertising.

With British Airways paying for the flights, Fairmont Southampton hosting the visitors, and Gosling’s, Ascendant Group and Dunkley’s also adding their financial backing, the actual cost to the Tourism Authority is very little. Mr Hanbury only sees upsides.

“This is exactly what we [BTA] like to see,” he said. “The BTA is actually not putting a huge budget into Hackers, the modest expenses of Hackers is shared out between the BTA and a number of businesses, who are directly helping the tourism industry.”

However, dissenting voices, largely from within the local golf community, question whether what Mr Hanbury says is accurate in terms of the Island benefiting from events such as the Hackers Cup. Condemned as a ‘spectacular waste of money’ there have also been questions raised about the ‘fame’ of celebrities invited to play. Well-known in the UK, those that come are hardly household names in Bermuda.

Mr Hanbury though argues that not only do those dissenters miss the point, they also overestimate how much the Authority spends on the event.

“The success of the event is that it is not hugely expensive, and we generate great publicity in the UK,” he said. “The Hackers Cup is designed to generate positive copy on Bermuda generally, and our golf facilities specifically, in the UK media which is a priority market for us. Its first two years were very successful in doing just that, and we are hoping that this third year will be even more successful in getting the word out on Bermuda.”