Wealthy line up for round-the-world tour
Those with cash to splash are eager for luxury trips that take in the best courses on Earth
The ultimate golf vacation is available for US$74,450, though there's a wait on the first tee.
The 2014 trip departs from Maui, tees off in Fiji and ends 22 days later at Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande, Spain. Covering five continents, it includes 12 rounds and transportation on a customised Boeing 757 jet. Kalos Golf, a luxury golf cruise specialist, sold out the 78 slots and has a 21-person waiting list.
It's an example of growing demand for ultraluxury travel amid rising numbers of wealthy people. While managed golf trips abound, such as Tiger Management founder Julian Robertson's US$23,905 Tiger Tour, Kalos' itinerary may be the sport's grandest vacation, according to professionals in the industry.
"Private air, pampering, top courses and five-star hotels, it certainly sounds like an ultimate group trip to me," said Craig Better, managing editor of , a New Jersey-based website and newsletter. "And to cover this much ground in this relatively short amount of time, that's the ultimate, too."
The interest has Kalos already planning for a 2015 world tour as well as shorter private jet trips to destinations such as Australia and Southeast Asia. "I thought, this is neat, it's a signature programme," said Jim Lamont, the president of Kalos, about the world trip's creation. "We'll get a little bit of attention with it and we'll see if we get 10 or 12 people. We've been floored that we're already at a waiting list."
The potential number of customers for such travel is growing. The number of high-net-wealth individuals worldwide, measured as those with US$30 million or more in assets, rose five per cent last year to 189,835, and that probably will double in the next decade, according to the 2013 Wealth Report by Knight Frank.
