Golf tourism – World Cup Cricket 2007 – Guyana prospects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to advance the sport of golf as a compelling enhancement of the Caribbean region tourism product and assess prospects for the development of golf tourism in Guyana, catalysed by World Cup Cricket, 2007. Design/methodology/approach – Documentation derived from leading researchers in the field certify contemporary golfing's international steep growth curve and global tourism implications. Additional theoretical issues include environmental consequences of Caribbean golf course development are explored. Attention is then directed toward analysis of golfing infrastructure/superstructure in Guyana. Findings – Participation in the sport of golf is indeed experiencing a major global upswing, especially among non‐traditional devotees, largely due to the high international profiles of non‐traditional golf professionals exemplified by Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh. While some Caribbean destinations will profit considerably, the golf tourism carrying capacity of Guyana will require major upgrading to reap significant benefits. Research limitations/implications – The implications should constitute a clear wake‐up call to Guyana and other Caribbean regional tourism establishments if golf tourism is to be taken seriously as an enrichment component of the tourism product available to participants of CWC 2007. Practical implications – Tourism planners and developers will be able to utilize these findings as a road map to establishing or enhancing golf tourism in their respective destinations, particularly in the Caribbean region. Originality/value – The authors believe that their particular conceptual approach to the challenge of exploiting the potential golf tourism windfall from CWC 2007 represents a valuable contribution to the literature of tourism development and a seminal research piece that will find its way into the Professional Golf Management degree curriculum resources of regional and international universities that have a legacy of post‐colonial national development.