Luxury Real Estate

The celebration of the IGTM in Valencia will mark a before and after in golf tourism in the Valencia region of Spain.

The meeting, which will take place from the 15^th to the 18^th of November in Valencia, will attract around 500 professional buyers from the world of golf, some 600 exhibitors from 60 countries and about a hundred specialized media.

The Valencia Tourism Minister highlighted that the combination of the warm climate, the convenient and fast access to the area, a consolidated global offer of golf tourism and good value for money are the factors that have finally determined that the Valencia Region (which includes the provinces of Alicante, Valencia and Castellón) should host this event.

For the minister, "golf tourism golf has become a strategic segment that needs to be encouraged and promoted."

The Tourism Council is consequently conducting familiarization trips for tour operators, attending trade fairs related to golf and establishing partnership agreements to promote this sport with different organizations.

In short, golf tourism is a segment that corresponds to a demand for higher level of spending and a longer stay. Thus, "the average 900 euros that this type of tourist spends during his stay is three times higher than the traditional tourist".

Therefore, the minister concluded that "we will continue our commitment to promote this tourism segment that has grown so much over the last few years and is extremely important for tourism development on the whole, as it diversifies the tourism offer of the region therefore reducing the seasonal tourism.”

In particular, the Cumbre del Sol residential estate in the North of the Alicante province, where Luxury Homes by VAPF is developing exclusive villas with unbeatable sea views, is located within 5km of a golf course, enabling the residents of this prestigious estate to enjoy the sport right within a hop, skip and a jump from their homes.

Courtesy of: Ruth Kruger of Worldwide Exclusive Properties

It's amazing when my work takes me to great places like Rome and Monaco, makes me joyous that a typical day for me is not in a typical office at all!

The first leg of my latest journey was for a conference hosted by LuxuryRealEstate.com (Check out my LuxuryRealEstate.com page) and where I had a wonderful time with my new friends.

After the Rome journey, I hopped on the train to Venice where I enjoyed spending more time with those from the conference on their way to ski the Dolomites. I unfortunately had to go to work on the French Riviera…

While staying in Monaco, I spent the days touring exclusive villas from Monaco to Saint Tropez. It was truly wonderful work.

Even when my work brings me far away, I am once again reminded that there is always a local connection. Just Friday I had a lovely conversation with commercial retailers looking for retail space in downtown Aspen. Currently they have an outlet in Harrods of London and in Monaco and are looking for the perfect Aspen location. In addition to the commercial requirement, they also have 2 villas they would like to sell an exclusive gated community in Monaco. Keep your eyes on www.Worldwideaspen.com site for 2 new listings with views of the Mediterranean and amenities from heaven!

Please let me know when you would like me to return to find your dream French home.

By: Peter Linsey of Sotheby's International Realty

Park City Ski Mountain has just announced that they will be opening for skiing and snowboarding for the 2009-2010 season. The mountain is scheduled to open November 21^st with limited operation dependant on new snow fall. The local weather in Park City has been below freezing almost every night allowing the mountain to start artificial snow making to cover the ski mountain runs. ETC.

Park City is a well known luxury real estate destination that combines great summer weather for hiking, mountain biking, road biking, fly fishing, golfing as well as world famous winter activities such as downhill skiing, cross country, snowshoeing. Peter Linsey has an intimate knowledge of Park City and would be happy to help you with any of your luxury real estate needs in Park City, Deer Valley, the Canyons, Promontory or any other surrounding areas.

By TD Smith of Telluride Real Estate Corp.

Video courtesy of Telluride Visitor's Center

By Joey Pauley

This weekend I went snowboarding. I know most of you who are reading this will say “Snowboarding? It’s May. Ski season was over months ago.” But here in the Pacific Northwest, we are blessed to be able to backcountry ski and snowboard all year long. We even have websites for those of us dedicated to make Turns All Year.

I have a split board, a snowboard that splits in two so you can skin up the mountain. It is much better than trying to snowshoe but it has it’s downfalls at times. I have figured out how to cope in powder, but this weekend was my first time out in spring conditions.

I went up with five buddies of which I knew two from teaching backcountry travel courses. The first day was unbelievable. We did a well-traveled tour called the Birthday tour. It was over two passes and some beautiful snow was to be had.

The second day was a whole different story. On the steepest portions of the slope on the way up, I broke right out of the skin track only to careen down the hill losing precious height every time. And this is what I do for fun! I must have done it 25 to 30 times on the way up the hill. My friends were way past me at this point. I was all alone. So what did I do . . . I took even more time. After every step I took a few breaths and figured out what I could do better. I was losing ground but gaining experience in tough times.

By the end of the day I made it to the top of our ski route while my friends went to check out the summit, a few hundred feet higher on poor skiing terrain. I was about an hour behind, but they waited. Very nice.

To make a long story short (I hate it when people say that. It means you are only halfway through) we had an unbelievable ski down. The turns through this area were gorgeous, the snow was just right. I forgot about all my troubles on the way up.

You may ask what this has to do with Luxury Real Estate. I like to take lessons I learn in sports and apply them to other areas of my life and vice-versa. It is a life lesson that we all struggle in hard times. We all struggle, whether it be climbing a mountain in shifting snow or changing our business model and budget during varying economic conditions.

It is going to happen from time to time. Things are not going to go your way. Just assess the situation at every step, make the changes, and rise to the challenge. Soon you will forget about the hard times you endured, but you will always remember the lessons learned.


Editor’s Note:
As a Technical Account Manager with LuxuryRealEstate.com, Joey Pauley helps members with their Web and technology needs. He does a phenomenal job in all of his projects, as you can see by visiting the many websites he has helped design. Mountains are such wonderful for metaphors. They can represent the heights of accomplishment, tests of courage and strength, sites of sacrifice and much more. By pushing forward and learning from our mistakes, we are sure to succeed.