Karen Jessen is one ot the big names ot the tourism industry in the Costa del Sol. An advert in a newspaper changad the lite ot this Dane, she says that it was the best thing that has happened in her lite. Years after, with  her  husband  Carlos,  Karen tounded the agency Cititravel. The purchase ot Baviera Golf in 2019 was Carlos Charters’ dream come true. After the entrepreneur passed away, his youngest son, Carlos, became the president ot the Baviera Golf. Mother and son along with Aurora the manager ot the course, run Baviera and tight to turn it into one ot the benchmarks ot the Costa del Sol.

How did you became the owner of the club?

We learnt that Baviera Golf was in bankruptcy and started to put the wheels in motion. Suddenly, we found ourselves awarded with the course on the 29th of June, with just 4 employees: Aurora and three others. On the 1st of August the administrative agencies close, it is not possible to employ anyone. So, we had a golf course, with terribly hot weather and without enough staff. We had to find employees, most of all for the maintenance. Luckily, we had Aurora and Pepe, thanks to their contact with the previous workers, they started calling them and we had ali the paperwork ready very quickly, we had to renovate the course. lt was a hard work to start it over as quickly as possible. That was the beginning of our adventure here, with a refurbishment. In February we made the big official inauguration, at last we had finished and everything was perfect. lt worked wonderfully from the very first moment. lt was funniest of ali that our clients were local foreigners, there were very few Spanish. My husband had many friends in golf and we created the “Family & Friends” card to make a discount to ali the friends and family and it worked very well. This summer we already have more than 50% of players from Malaga.

Do you work in the touristic industry?

We opened Cititravel DMC 37 years ago, it works in the MICE sector (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions/ events). Over the years, we have been opening offices throughout Spain and two years ago we opened in Portugal as well. The golf course is a hobby for us, especially for my husband, he used to say that it was his fifth son.

How did you arrive to Spain?

I had just finished high school in Denmark and I wanted to spend a gap-year. By thenI found an advert for a tour guides school in Mallorca. lt was the perfect excuse to leave home. My father told me he wasn’t going to pay for it, so I went to the apple cooperative in my town. There were three shifts a day and I made two of them, from eight in the morning to twelve at night. In my town the discos opened Friday and Saturday until three in the morning and imagine I arrived to Mallorca in November and I saw the chaos I enjoyed myself in style. After fifteen days, the operator, who was Oanish, offered me to work as the manager of the tour guides in the Costa del Sol; I didn’t even know where the place was but I accepted and they put me onto a plane to Málaga. The owner of the agency in Benalmadena took me around to ali the hotels and the next day we started to received telexes with orders. I had to manage the bookings. lt was crazy After six days a plane ful! of Danish people arrived. They were farmers with a lot of money andI could sell them all the excursions because they only spoke Danish.

And what about your relationship with golf?

Our youngest son was born much later than the rest. Carlos used to go to Torrequebrada on Sundays and when Carlitas was two years old he brought him and left him at the bunker with a club. The teachers, between classes, taught him some tricks. In the end, the kid became even more fond of golf than his father and he achieved a scholarship at the North Carolina University He spent tour very happy years there and when he finished and he was coming back, the Baviera opportunity came up. For his father and him it was like having a new toy Now, Carlos is in his element, he is the president, the same as his father was. He has brought many ideas from America and step by step he is changing it.

Did Carlos take you to golf?

When the kid went to the EEUU, Carlos told me – “Now, you don’t have any excuse” – and bought me a bag full of clubs for my birthday After that, I must say that I love it, I can’t play very well, but l like the walks, the courses are very nice

What is your involvement in Baviera and what would you like to achieve?

Aurora, Carlos and I have a meeting every week to take decisions and we review what has happened. Our spirit is to have the course as Carlos would have liked and I think we are getting there. Many clients congratulate us. I would like to get some important tournaments, to have some kind of role on the Solheim Cup, but that is difficult with our location.

Why chose Baviera?

lt is an enjoyable course, it is technical, with good maintenance. Players enjoy it. We are in an environment, the Axarquia, very different to the Costa del Sol. lt has a tremendous appeal, it is very unknown, but there are not enough hotels. In winter all of them close and it is difficult to sell packs. We are very excited also with the restaurant of a young chef, from Malaga, who offers a very creative Mediterranean cuisine and the clients are delighted.