THEPadel is the sport of the year: the construction of dedicated fields increased by 400% in the last year and over 1,400 new fields have been registered throughout Europe. The reasons for its success are various: it is a sport of aggregation; it is dynamic and fun (it really allows you to “switch off”); has a very fast learning curve, much more than tennis; is one sport “physically accessible” to all ages and at any level of athletic training; it is played only in four and therefore the spaces of movement and the shots are reduced, therefore also the possible bruises.
The discovery of the padel
Although few know it, the padel was born in the seventies in Mexicoin the splendid Acapulco. The inventor is Enrique Corquera: he wanted to build a tennis court on his property but space was limited. He therefore thought of inserting a metal mesh and building concrete walls in order to bounce the ball and create more game: now they are replaced by unbreakable glass, but this has allowed to give greater speed to the game. That is why this sport can be called in two ways: in Spanish pádelgraphic adaptation ofenglish paddlewhich means ‘paddle’, a nice way to designate the typical racquet of this sport.
Padel, a “princely” sport
But the real spread came in the Eighties, even if it always remains a niche sport. In a sophisticated hotel in the tourist resort of Marbellain Andalusia, il German prince Von Hohanlohefascinated by the accomplishment of his Mexican friend, he built a field similar to that of his friend. All guests, coming from all over the world, had the opportunity to try and learn about this new game. Until some American tourists bring this sport to the USA where it achieved its global fame.
Sports holidays are back in 2022
According to the latest data from the Outdoor Tourism Observatory, “the propensity to vacation increases significantly (77%) among those who went on vacation last year, and it grows even more among those who havean outdoor holiday in the village, camping or road trip in the last year (80%) “. Covid has had a very severe impact on sports tourism. “In two years of the pandemic, more than 10 billion euros have gone up in smoke. According to Banca Ifis data, in 2020 spending on this type of tourism in Italy fell by 74%, reaching 2 billion. Attendance linked to sporting events fell by 76% and therefore amounted to 7.6 million. Sports tourism generates, before covid, 12 to 15 million international arrivals every year and represents the 10% of the world tourism industry, with a turnover of 800 billion dollars ». (European Travel Commission).
Italians are looking for equipped hotels and villages
In Italy 20 million people practice one or more even sports to over 34% of the population, of these 24.4% carry out sporting activities continuously, while the remaining 10% do it occasionally (source Istat). And considering that the padel is among the most popular sports for this reason 2022, as is logical, the demand of Italians for hotels and villages equipped for sports activities is at the top of the research.
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