Sport at the heart of the new resorts: much more than golf

For decades, golf has been the star of luxury resorts in Spain and Europe, and it remains their heart today: the course is the jewel that defines a complex's prestige. However, the "sports resort" model has evolved into a broader proposition, in which top-level golf coexists with other sports such as tennis, padel, football or cycling, all integrated into a global concept of wellbeing and active living, without golf losing its role as the central axis.

This shift responds to a real demand: today's traveler wants to stay active without leaving the resort. In this article, we look at how the leading resorts in Spain are redefining sports tourism, and how Bon Golf, the new luxury golf resort being reborn on the Costa Dorada, joins this philosophy with a project that combines top-level golf, a sports area, a five-star hotel and designer branded residences.

Golf, the heart of an ever-wider sports ecosystem

The starting point of many of these complexes is, without a doubt, golf. In other words, the course continues to define the resort's identity and is usually the best-kept facility in the whole project. What has changed is that, around it, the major resorts now build an ecosystem of complementary sports facilities that broaden the target audience without golf losing its prominence.

From golf as the sole draw to sports diversification

A paradigmatic example is La Manga Club, in the Region of Murcia, which describes itself as a "Holistic Active Retreat". The complex has three internationally acclaimed 18-hole golf courses —the true flagship of the resort—, as well as a Racquets Club with 26 tennis courts, 7 padel courts, pickleball, a gym and even eight football pitches, along with cricket, cycling, triathlon and rugby. This diversification attracts very different profiles without neglecting the traditional golfer, who remains the pillar of the business.

A similar pattern can be seen at Abama Resort, in the southwest of Tenerife, where the 18-hole golf course designed by Dave Thomas —considered one of the best in Europe— is the centerpiece of the resort, and coexists with Abama Tenis (seven tennis courts and four padel courts), a gym and a cycling offering. The combination of championship golf, subtropical nature and views of the Atlantic makes the resort a destination that, despite broadening its sports offering, never stops revolving around golf.

Offering several disciplines within a single complex also makes it possible to capture demand all year round, attract events from different federations and support children's and youth academies, such as the Golf Junior Academy at La Manga Club.

Golf as an experience: academies and corporate golf

New-generation resorts see golf as a complete experience that begins before the game and continues afterwards, with academies such as the Golf Junior at La Manga Club, which offers intensive technical and physical programs for young players.

Tournaments and corporate golf are also a strategic business avenue: they make it possible to make the facilities profitable outside peak season and to position the resort on the international sports calendar.

On top of this comes an increasingly carefully developed educational and social component: clinics for beginners, private lessons with PGA professionals and loyalty programs that turn an occasional guest into a repeat customer. Corporate golf, in particular, has become a common networking and team-building tool for companies, which use the courses to combine work meetings with days of play, generating stable income and constant demand throughout the year.

Wellness and gastronomy: the essential complement to golf

No new-generation sports resort can be understood today without a wellness and gastronomy offering that lives up to its sports facilities. Most high-end resorts have invested in top-level wellness spaces as a direct complement to sporting activity, and combine golf with hydrotherapy and muscle recovery treatments in their commercial packages.

The gastronomic offering has likewise adapted to this active guest profile, with Mediterranean cuisine restaurants and signature dining —such as the Melvin restaurant at Abama, with the signature of Martín Berasategui— alongside casual sports bars designed to refuel after a round of golf or a tennis match.

Families and residences: living next to the golf course

Sport at today's resorts is no longer conceived with the individual guest in mind, but the whole family. Kids Camps, youth academies and children's areas make it possible for parents and children to enjoy sports programs in parallel, adapted to each age and level, reinforcing the idea that sport is a lifestyle practiced as a family throughout the stay, from the first introductory lessons to days of shared time between generations.

This philosophy also carries over into the way the facilities themselves are designed: swimming pools, leisure areas and common spaces conceived so that no member of the family is left out of the sporting experience, encouraging disconnection and shared time away from screens.

In addition, it is increasingly common for resorts to include a real estate offering directly linked to the golf course and the rest of the sports facilities. Living next to a prestigious golf course has become a decisive factor for those looking for a second home with an active and healthy component, where the scenery, the tranquility and the possibility of playing sport every day add weight to the decision to invest.

Bon Golf: golf as the axis of a new resort on the Costa Dorada

This entire sports resort model, with golf as its backbone and an offering of active living, wellness and residential options around it, is exactly what Bon Golf proposes, the project that recovers the legacy of the historic Bonmont in Mont-roig del Camp (Tarragona). Driven by Grupo Costa and ARUM Group, Bon Golf plans a gradual rollout with the presentation of the residential project in 2028, and aspires to become one of the most emblematic golf destinations in Europe.

A top-level golf course as the heart of the resort

El elemento central del proyecto es, de nuevo, el golf. Bon Golf contará con un campo de golf excepcional, con la remodelación integral del diseño original de Robert Trent Jones Jr., uno de los arquitectos de golf más reconocidos internacionalmente. El objetivo es que este campo se convierta en uno de los mejores de España, siguiendo los estándares del golf europeo de alto nivel y con la sostenibilidad como eje transversal. Al igual que en La Manga Club o Abama Hotels, el golf no es un añadido más dentro de Bon Golf: es la razón de ser del proyecto.

The central element of the project is, once again, golf. Bon Golf will have an exceptional golf course, with a comprehensive redesign of the original layout by Robert Trent Jones Jr., one of the most internationally renowned golf architects. The goal is for this course to become one of the best in Spain, following high-level European golf standards and with sustainability as a cross-cutting axis. As at La Manga Club or Abama Hotels, golf is not just one more add-on at Bon Golf: it is the project's reason for being.

Sports area, luxury hotel and designer residences

Around that golf course, Bon Golf is building the same kind of ecosystem as the major Spanish sports resorts: a top-level sports area, a five-star luxury hotel and a designer residential development conceived to blend in with the natural surroundings of the Costa Dorada. This combination places the complex in the same league as the leading resorts analyzed in this article, while adding a strong environmental commitment through its own infrastructure.

In short, Bon Golf represents the arrival on the Costa Dorada of that comprehensive sports resort model that combines championship golf, active living, luxury and sustainability, and which already works as a benchmark in other destinations in Spain.

The future of sports resorts in Spain

The trend points to ever greater integration between golf, sport, wellness and sustainability within a single project. The resorts leading this change no longer compete just to have the best golf course, but to offer the most complete sports ecosystem, capable of attracting the vacation traveler as much as the professional athlete, the family or the investor who sees in these facilities added value for their future home.

In conclusion, the new sports resorts show that golf remains the great pillar on which these projects are built, even if it no longer travels alone: tennis, padel, football, cycling, triathlon and other disciplines now coexist with spas, signature gastronomy and family programs within a single destination, without taking away from the prominence of the golf course. This comprehensive model, which combines top-level golf, sporting performance, wellness and lifestyle, marks the path that the major tourist complexes will follow in the coming years, and Bon Golf, on the Costa Dorada, is shaping up to be one of the projects called to lead it in Spain.

Frequently asked questions

Why are golf resorts adding other sports besides golf?

Because diversifying the sports offering makes it possible to attract a wider audience —families, athletes from different disciplines, professional teams—, make the facilities profitable all year round and strengthen guest loyalty.

What sports do the most complete sports resorts usually include?

Besides golf, it is common to find tennis, padel, football, cycling, triathlon, cricket, rugby and, increasingly, pickleball, along with fully equipped gyms.

What role does wellness play in these sports resorts?

The spa and wellness programs are an essential complement: they aid physical recovery after sporting activity and round out the experience with relaxation rituals, hydrotherapy and personalized treatments.

Are sports resorts only designed for professional athletes?

No. Most combine high-performance programs and international tournaments with activities for beginners, families and children, through academies and kids' clubs adapted to different levels.

What is the relationship between sport and residential projects at these resorts?

It is increasingly common for these complexes to include residential developments next to the sports facilities, since living next to a golf course, tennis courts or cycling areas has become an attraction factor for buyers looking for an active lifestyle.

What will BonGolf offer within this sports resort model?

BonGolf will combine an exceptional golf course based on the original design by Robert Trent Jones Jr., a top-level sports area, a five-star luxury hotel and a designer residential development, following the same comprehensive sports resort model that already works in destinations such as La Manga Club or Abama Hotels, with golf as its central axis.