The research on the problem of golf is essentially limited to environmental issues, and socioeconomic and cultural ones are usually neglected. In southern European countries where tourism is mainly dependent on "sun & sea", golf courses supply is becoming more and more relevant, considering its balance facing "sun & sea" low seasons. However, these countries have a poor cultural identification with golf, despite its relevance to attract international tourism markets (Marckwick, 2000;Neirotti, 2005). This paper presents a demand side approach of the phenomenon, framing golf and its dynamics as a business supported in two distinct demand profiles: international tourist golfers and local leisure golfers-. To develop this analysis we take and compare different statistical sources.The paper takes Portugal, a main international golf tourism destination, as a case study in the context of the countries of southern Europe. The comparison of statistical data on supply and demand of golf in Portugal is the basis for a reflection on the golf demand development.

In an increasingly competitive tourism panorama where destinations and the offer of products has increased significantly, both in quantitative and qualitative terms (OMT, 2015), the Alentejo Regional Tourism Entity (ARTE), as part of its development and communication strategy, has been claiming the intangible heritage as a differentiating element of its offer, as way to ensure a distinctive international position. The strategic option of submitting several intangible cultural resources, representative of Alentejo's memory and identity, to UNESCO's Intangible Heritage, aims at promoting the region's culture in addition to legitimizing new attributes for a tourist approach centred on creativity and innovation, having the experience as a paradigm and disruptive element. The framework of the new tourism development-operating model presented here is supported on assumptions, such as: network development, business shared development, implementation of museum interpretation units, storytelling and the integration of do it yourself base technologies.