Glencor data puts the south-eastern Costa Cálida region ahead of Andalusia and the Costa Blanca on group size, room counts and price per star, a combination that is increasingly catching the eye of corporate organisers planning incentive and client-entertainment trips.
Murcia has been named Spain’s best-value destination for group golf trips, according to two years of booking data released by tour operator Glencor Golf Holidays, a finding that is likely to sharpen the region’s appeal for UK companies planning incentive breaks, client days and team away-trips next season.
The analysis, which covered every Spanish region in which Glencor recorded more than 10 bookings, found that the south-eastern Costa Cálida region not only attracts the biggest parties on the operator’s books but also delivers more hotel quality per pound than any of its better-known rivals on the Costa del Sol or Costa Blanca.
Murcia ranked first for average group size, at 8.1 golfers per booking, and first for average rooms booked per trip, at 4.1, figures that comfortably outstripped any other Spanish region in the study and underline the destination’s growing reputation as a corporate-friendly alternative to busier Mediterranean hubs.
A quieter rival to the Costa del Sol
The region has long sat in the shadow of Andalusia, whose Costa del Sol is regularly voted Europe’s premier golf destination by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators. But with 19 courses laid out within a 50km radius and more than 300 days of sunshine a year, according to the official Region of Murcia tourist board, organisers are beginning to recognise the practical advantages of a more compact, less congested patch of coastline.
Corrie Renton, co-director of Glencor Golf Holidays, said the region’s appeal for larger parties came down to logistics as much as fairways.
“Murcia is one of those destinations that group golfers return to again and again because everything feels easy,” she said. “The courses are close together, transfers are straightforward, and the whole atmosphere is much more relaxed than some of the busier Spanish resorts. When you’re organising a trip for eight or more people, that convenience makes a huge difference.”
She added: “Groups want great golf without the stress, and golf holidays in Murcia deliver exactly that. We can take care of the hotels, tee times and transfers, leaving golfers free to simply enjoy the trip.”
Price-per-star puts Murcia top
Where Murcia really pulls ahead, however, is on cost. The average booking worked out at just £139 per person, per night, making it the second-cheapest region in the Glencor study. Crucially, that lower headline price was not matched by a drop in quality: when the operator measured average hotel star ratings against average nightly spend, Murcia returned more stars for every pound than any other Spanish region analysed.
For corporate travel buyers under continued pressure to justify off-site spend, that price-per-star metric is likely to resonate. It chimes with the wider value-led mood reshaping business travel in 2026, as finance teams scrutinise hospitality budgets and incentive organisers look for destinations that can punch above their nightly rate.
That value story also helps explain why the region has begun winning over first-time visitors more familiar with the established names further west. Travelling for Business recently covered the experience of a sports-tripping convert who made his first golf pilgrimage to La Manga, the Murcia resort that has been hosting groups since the 1970s and remains one of the region’s anchor properties.
October, May and September the sweet spots
The Glencor figures also give organisers a useful planning steer on when to travel. October emerged as comfortably the busiest month, accounting for almost 30% of all Murcia bookings, with May and September joint second on 15% apiece. April followed on 13% and March on 10.9%, with smaller volumes still recorded in June, August and November.
The pattern mirrors the wider European preference for shoulder-season golf, when Mediterranean heat eases, course conditions sharpen and flight loads from UK airports settle. It also reinforces Murcia’s suitability for the kind of pre- and post-conference incentive add-ons that corporate planners are increasingly bolting onto longer European trips.
A destination worth a closer look
Sitting between Alicante–Elche to the north and Almería to the south, Murcia benefits from two airports of its own, at Corvera and across the regional border at Alicante, putting it within roughly two-and-a-half hours of most UK hubs. Add in tee sheets that rarely feel oversubscribed, a clutch of four- and five-star resorts and a cost base that still undercuts the Costa del Sol, and the case for Murcia as a corporate group-golf option starts to write itself.
As Renton put it: “It is the combination — easy logistics, quality courses, real value — that keeps groups coming back.” For UK organisers planning their 2026 and 2027 calendars, Glencor’s numbers suggest Murcia deserves a far longer look than it has historically been given.
For Travelling for Business readers interested in the wider golf-trip market, our recent round-up of golf holidays ideal for golfers and non-golfers alike is a useful companion piece.
